Zineb Ouachtouki

The History of Egyptian Culture: A Guide to Understanding Sexual Oppression

Part 1: Aims (Abstract of 200 words or fewer): As concisely as you can, state the
objectives of your project. Explain your project in terms that will be understandable
to a general, non-specialist audience.
According to a recent study, ninety-nine percent of Egyptian women say they have
experienced sexual harassment. I believe that currently many organizations are focused
on empowering women economically and politically and are ignoring sex. While
economic and political trainings are beneficial, sex is a key piece, especially to this
region. My research will help inform organizations that currently lack the understanding
of the culture and the recent history. My research will provide a historical analysis of the
perception of sexual oppression in Egypt. I will look at movements such as the Arab
Awakening and examine how conversations about sex have evolved. My research will
identify: sexual oppression pre-Arab Awakening, what ignited the movements, what
specifically were women fighting for, what struggles did women deal with during the
movements, and the current state of sexual oppression in Egypt. Through this research, I
hope these organizations will understand the importance of having an open dialogue of
sex in Egypt and view it as just as vital as economic and political education. Hopefully
these newly informed organizations will be more effective with their missions to
empower the women of Egypt.
Part 2: Background: Identify a context for your work and orient the
reader/reviewer. What knowledge frames this project? What should a reader know
to understand your questions? Give references to specific research that provides a
context for your ideas and approach.
Through my work, I hope to provide information to organizations that go to into Egypt to
assist women there but are not intimately familiar with the culture or history.
Organizations will learn how the history of the patriarchal culture formed, how the Arab
Awakening changed conversations about sex, and what are the ways to help these women
that would most beneficial. A book that complements my research is We Should All Be
Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. It would give readers background
information as to why feminism is for everyone, which will then lead to an understanding
of why a sexual education for Egyptian woman is necessary. Another book that readers
would benefit greatly from reading is Headscarves and Hymens by Mona Eltahawy
where she discusses the reasons why the MENA needs a sexual revolution. This text goes
into greater detail for the reasons why a sexual revolution in Egypt is necessary and is
vital to understanding the oppression in the Middle East in a broader sense. My research
will focus greatly on how the history of the culture leading up to the uprising and the
significance of feminist movements during The Arab Awakening. By the end, I hope to
tie this back why it is important for organizations to focus on empowering Egyptian

women sexually. Another text that will provide my research with credible dialogue from
Egyptian women scholars is, "Women Scholars in Egypt Reflect on the Intersection of
Islam and Feminism," by Kimberly Adams. The new suffragettes: Courage in Cairo the Arab womens awakening, by Catrina Stewart will provide me with interviews that
have already been conducted with Egyptian women protestors where they speak on
wanting to gain basic human rights.
Part 3: Argument and Significance: State the point of your project. What issues will
you be examining? What specific question will be answered, problem solved, or
hypothesis tested through your research? Is there a controversial idea you propose
to address or missing information you propose to provide? What might this
projects results add to our understanding of a particular problem or area of study?
Explain why your audience should care about your work.
The point of my research would be to provide a resource for organizations or people
looking to help women in Egypt by looking at culture and recent history. Many people
often associate Islam with oppression, but do not understand that it is not religion, but it
is culture that plays a huge role. Most of the conflicts between Islam and modern
women's rights is attributed to culture, rather than the actual religion, states Omaima
Abu-Bakr. Due to this misunderstanding, many people go in often wanting to solve the
wrong issues. My research will discuss the history of the misogynistic culture and how its
recent history dealt with sexual oppression. It will bring attention to how significant the
recent uprising of women has been and what it means for the future of the conservative
culture.
Part 4: Project Design/Methods/Results: State the research methods you will use,
and explain how these will address your questions. What will you do? Where will
the work be done? What will your results look like (quantitative, qualitative,
creative)? What methods will you use to analyze, interpret, and assess results?
How will you communicate your results to others?
In cases that involve close work with a professor, it is important that you indicate
the ways in which you will make an independent or creative contribution. While
professorial oversight and support are essential in most cases, the summer
fellowships are not awarded to students who will merely be faculty research
assistants.
I will conduct my research by using secondary sources such as interviews that have
already been conducted with Egyptian activist/feminists, research papers that document
Egypts sex culture, and articles that discuss womens protests throughout the Arab
Awakening. I also hope to speak to two professors at the University of Richmond, Dr.
Sweis and Dr. Carapico, who have direct experience with those in Egypt. Dr. Carapico
was in Egypt during the Arab Awakening and will be able to provide me with insight of
on-the-ground observations of Egyptian women protesting womens issues. I hope to
work closely with Dr. Sweis while conducting my research as she has is not only Arab
herself, but has spent two years working with Egyptian women in Egypt. Dr. Sweis will

be able to provide a lot of firsthand observations of Egyptian culture. Through talking to

them, I hope to gain an understanding of what they believe Egyptian women could
benefit from, what is lacking, and what they believe the most important problems are.
Hopefully, my results will communicate to readers that Egyptian women would benefit
from learning how to be empowered not only economically and politically, but also
sexually.
Part 5: Literature Cited: Provide a bibliography of any works referenced in the
preceding parts. References demonstrate your familiarity with the topic and with
the scholarly background of your research project.
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. We Should All Be Feminists. London: Fourth Estate, 2014.
Eltahawy, Mona. Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual
Revolution. Farrar,
Straus and Giroux, 2015.
Al-Ali, Nadje S. "Gender and Civil Society in the Middle East." Transcending
Boundaries Gender and
Civil Society, December 2, 2010, 216-32. International Feminist Journal of Politics.
Adams, Kimberly. "Women Scholars in Egypt Reflect on the Intersection of Islam and
Feminism." Public Radio International. May 20, 2015.
Stewart, Catrina. "The New Suffragettes: Courage in Cairo - the Arab Womens
Awakening." Independent. May 29, 2013.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/the-new-suffragettes-courage-incairo-the-arab-women-s-awakening-8636534.htm.
"Now Is The Time." The Economist. October 15, 2011.
http://www.economist.com/node/21532256.