FEMINISM AND NATIONALIST

DISCOURSE IN THE 1919

REVOLUTION

By: Taylor Moore HIST 258AB

 Dual Liberation in Egypt, 1870s-1925

“ In moments of danger
when women emerge by
their side, men utter no
protest. Yet women’s great
acts and endless sacrifices
do not change men’s view
of women. Through their
arrogance, men refused to
see the capabilities of
women …[Women’s]
resolve led to a struggle
that would have ended in
war if man had not come
to acknowledge the rights
of women.”
–Huda Sha’arawi
Faces of Women Feminist/Nationalist
Activists: 1919 Revolution
Indigenous Discourses
 Egyptian women
developed indigenous
constructs of feminism
and nationalism distinct
from those of male
nationalist discourses

 Egyptian women did not

subsume their feminism
to the nationalist project
Rise of Feminist Consciousness/Activism

 Feminist consciousness
becomes articulated in
the 1870s-1890s

 Initially, through
articles published in
books or journals from
seclusion in the harem
and discussion in
women’s salons.
Women's Roles in the 1919 Revolution

 1910: women’s
earliest public
nationalist demand

 Played a central role

in organizing,
coordinating,
expanding support for
the Wafd
Separate Feminisms, Divergent Nationalisms

 Hatem displays Badran’s

theory of two distinct
strands of nationalism
and feminism in texts
published during the
1919 Revolution

 Examines how modernist

nationalist (patriarchal)
discourse shaped lives
and writings of Egyptian
women
In Service of Nationalist Discourses

Malak Hifni Nasif Aisha Taymour

 Attempts to soften (or  Presents Taymour as a

deny all together) Nasif’s
critiques of Amin, and product of modernization
other contributors to
patriarchal nationalist
discourse  Constructs her life as a
simultaneous comparison
 Attributes Nasif’s success of traditional and
(the advancement of modern societies
women in general) to the
ideas and support of men
In Service of National Discourses (cont’d)

“ In our case, the

mention of women’s
movements reminds us
that it was men who
founded it, gave it
support and continue
to infuse it with
dynamism.”
Critiques of Ziyada’s Biographies
 Uses biographies to
integrate herself into
Egyptian Culture

 Re-establishes the power of

male fraternal discourse

 Uncritically accepts
Orientalist views/attitudes of
colonial government
regarding differences in
status between Muslim and
Christian women
 A Lasting Legacy
 Egyptian women’s
independent public
feminist and nationalist
activism is still active
today and was
displayed in 2011
Egyptian revolution
Bibliography
Badran, Margot. “The Feminist Vision in the Writings of Three Turn of the Century
Women”
“ ”. “Dual Liberation: Feminism and Nationalism in Egypt,1870s-1925”
Hatem, Mervat. “ The 1919 Revolution and Nationalist Constructions of Lives and Works
Pioneering Women Writers.”