Maro Youssef

The Tunisian government, which is deeply divided, especially along ideological lines, responded to growing concerns over increased violence against women during the Coronavirus pandemic by establishing a new domestic violence shelter and 24/7 hotline. This article asks: Why did the state respond to gender-based violence(gbv) concerns during the Coronavirus pandemic in Tunisia, despite ideological and political divisions? We argue that the state addressed some concerns around violence during the pandemic because combatting gbv has bipartisan support in Tunisia. Tunisian Islamist and secularist women’s rights organizations succeeded in building a bipartisan coalition of support on this issue because they worked either together in a short-lived coalition or in tandem with similar goals over the past decade during the democratic transition in Tunisia. Building on the existing coalition literature, we show that feminist coalition formation before a pandemic has implications for feminists’ success in times of crisis.

Algerian feminists, who are committed to advancing human rights and women’s rights, oddly supported the authoritarian rule of President Abdel Aziz Bouteflika and viewed him as the best option available to women. In this chapter, Maro Youssef argues that secular Algerian feminists are not passive victims of patriarchy but rather active agents and complex subjects who negotiate and renegotiate their contract with the state to advance their interests. She explores how feminists’ position is founded in their fear of the Islamists and their beliefs that Bouteflika is capable of preventing Islamists from regaining power. By aligning their efforts with the state, women believe that they can stop Islamists from reversing the rights that women have already achieved or imposing their conservative version of Islam on the Algerian society.

Following the 2010–2011 revolution, Islamist and secularist political parties and women’s rights organizations formed coalitions in Tunisia. Nothing of the sort had happened before in Tunisian history. This article considers the conditions that led feminists with different ideological beliefs to create what I call an “unlikely feminist coalition” in Tunisia. I argue that Islamists and secularists can form unlikely feminist coalitions when facing similar threats, working on similar tasks prior to formation of the coalition, the experience of common grievances, and a shared feminist identity. Drawing on the gender politics and social movement literature on coalitions, I suggest that more needs to be understood about unlikely feminist coalitions, especially in the Middle East.

Following the 2010-2011 revolution, Islamist and secularist political parties and women's rights organizations formed coalitions in Tunisia. Nothing of the sort had happened before in Tunisian history. This article considers the conditions that led feminists with different ideological beliefs to create what I call an "unlikely feminist coalition" in Tunisia. I argue that Islamists and secularists can form unlikely feminist coalitions when facing similar threats, working on similar tasks prior to formation of the coalition, the experience of common grievances, and a shared feminist identity. Drawing on the gender politics and social movement literature on coalitions, I suggest that more needs to be understood about unlikely feminist coalitions, especially in the Middle East.

North African women are using social media to reclaim their agency and to create a new and safe public space where they can freely express their opposition to political marginalization and newly imposed gender inequality. The recent Arab uprisings have shed a light on the use of social media as a space for political dissidents in the Arab world. During the revolts, people called for greater freedoms and an end of oppressive practices, including gender inequality. While some women were visible in the streets, others found their voices online, where there were hardly any restrictions. Women are especially worried about the Islamist dominated transitions and continue to protest. They do not believe their governments have adequately responded to their demands or addressed women’s issues. This case study focuses on North African women’s  contribution to Facebook’s popular page, “The uprisings of women in the Arab world.” The page’s existence is testament to women exercising their agency and occupying a new public space in order to contest their ongoing marginalization. The page was created in October 2011, after the initial revolts and has over 80,000 followers globally. The page has been featured in several media outlets, including Al Jazeera, CNN, Al Arabiya, and the International Business Times. The page is known for its images of predominantly Arab women holding signs that explain their solidarity with the uprisings of women in the Arab world.

I began this study with the desire to examine how women were depicted in Egyptian films and why Egyptian film was important. I chose to conduct my research through film since Egyptian films have been notoriously known across the Arab world as well as inside Egypt. It is surprising that filmmakers did not take Egyptian film production seriously until 1927. However, what is even more astonishing is the popularity of Egyptian films across the Arab world and in the Arab Diaspora in the West via satellite despite the short history of Egyptian films. There were 588 films produced between 1954 and 1967, which I consider the peak of Egyptian “state feminism,” and many films focused on women’s lives and attempted to depict reality.

This research project examines the trajectory and evolution of Egyptian Muslim feminist history between 1919 and 1977.  This research is based on the lives of two prominent Muslim feminists from two different generations.  A feminist and historical theoretical framework that incorporates aspects of colonial and post-colonial history is used.  Through primary and secondary research on Egyptian feminists, enough information on the lives of Labiba Ahmad and Zaynab al-Ghazali was obtained in order to write a work on the eclipsed Muslim feminists in Egypt.  This research creates a space for Muslim activists within the feminist movement of Egypt, and highlights the dedication and accomplishments of these empowered women.  My research findings are preliminary, yet they contribute to the remaking of Egyptian feminist history by expanding the history of the feminist movement and making it more inclusive.