Arab Women between two eras: feminists and the harem

Women have occupied a large area of intellectual interest over the last three decades since the term "feminism" was coined for the first time in the nineteenth century by the French philosopher Charles Fourier in 1837, and it is a theory that calls for equality between men and women in political, economic, social, educational, cultural, and other rights.

Feminism arose as a reaction to a patriarchal system that entrenched the prevailing cultures that carried a negative image of women, which was reflected in a social reality plagued by discrimination against women, belittling them, and wasting their rights, a reality exacerbated by the nature of the economic system that was followed at the time, which was based on the exploitation of women. This is the capitalist system, which was characterized in its early stages by social cruelty to society's most vulnerable sections, particularly women, who suffered greatly.

Then came the voices demanding equality in legal and political rights, suffrage and voting rights, and her right to fair working conditions, ushering in the world's first wave of feminism, which was followed by three waves, according to some who have documented the feminist movement's waves. The focus on gender and the underlying structures of discrimination against women and violence against them at all levels and throughout the private and public spheres piqued the interest of the second wave.

While the third wave was concerned with the concept of feminism itself, what it means and how it may show itself in terms of internal distinctions, it was also concerned with the concept of "classes of oppression," which means that women may face discrimination based on gender, race, and class all at the same time.

The fourth wave, on the other hand, arrived as an extension of the approach to diversification and liberation from any preconceived stereotypes associated with feminist thought in itself, as the demands of the movement in this wave focused on defending the rights of the marginalized and transsexuals, while providing a broader perspective to the movement by discussing the rights of men and boys, away from the stereotypes that have been forced on them. This wave was also interested in technology breakthroughs and their influence on gender equality.

It goes without mentioning that the movement has succeeded in spreading to various countries and regions around the world since its inception. This movement's supporters and defenders were present in each of its four waves.

The Arab region was not far from the movement's influences and expansions, particularly during the first wave, as the region saw the emergence of many names considered among the main figures who led this march and left their mark on the feminist movement; the most prominent of these influential names are; Hind Nawfal, a Syrian journalist and feminist writer born in 1860, who is widely regarded as the first woman in the Arab world and the wider MENA region to publish a women's magazine and an early proponent of feminism. Furthermore, Huda Sha'arawi, an Egyptian activist born in 1879, battled for girls' and women's education in Egypt, among other names that history remembers, such as May Ziadeh (1886-1941), Nazik al-Abid (1898-1959), and others.

This feminist discourse first appeared in the Arab world, some attempted to imbue it with an Islamic flavor, and among the leaders of this trend were a number of Egyptian women writers, such as the Egyptian social activist, poet, novelist, and feminist Aisha Taymur (1840-1902), whose discourse was characterized by Islamic feminism. In her sixteen-page booklet (A Reflective Mirror on Some Matters or, more eloquently, The Mirror of Contemplation), she stated that the Islamic system does not encourage discrimination and is instead built on justice and fairness.

Also, Malak Hifni Nasif (1886-1918), nicknamed Bahithat al-Badiyah (Searcher in the Desert), was an Egyptian feminist pioneer who advocated about women's freedom and demanding their rights in her book " Al-Nisa'iyyat" (or On Women's Issues).
the history of this movement in the Arab region was not limited to women alone, but also included support and endorsement from some men who strove to preserve women's rights and liberties and one of the most well-known pioneers in this subject is Egyptian jurist Qasim Amin, who was born in 1863 and is widely regarded as one of the founders and pioneers of the women's freedom movement.

The feminist movement has been characterized by many descriptions and has included many intellectual and philosophical currents under its banner, but the basic content of the word remains: all ideas related to women's issues that aim to end all forms of inequality and oppression based on gender, and indeed, the movement was able to create a societal reality that takes women's rights and freedoms into account.

It is true that there are differences in level between one country and another, one region and another, but this difference is also related to the levels of education, culture, and openness that exist in each society, in addition to the religious reference, with an emphasis on the level and size of interest, and not within the framework of countries' vision for incorporating the system of women's fundamental rights into the constitutional, legislative, political, and social systems.

A Counter-Vision to Feminist Thought:
In a move that some saw as a reversion, a woman's voice emerged on the scene, tweeting the inverse of this trend, as proposed by Egyptian TV presenter Yasmine Ezz, who believed that the feminist discourse calling for equality between men and women, particularly at the level of family relationships, is a deceptive discourse that corrupts and destroys marital life, and believes that it is necessary to alter the woman's thinking about her connection with her spouse and how to deal with him.

Her speech relied on a set of principles and points that she expressed on her nightly talk program, Kalam El Nas (or Talk of the People), and in some of her social media posts, the most notable of which we might characterize as follows:

1- Her rejection of the cliché "behind every great man is a woman" as she considers it incorrect. She explains that the wise man or scholar who said this did not mean his wife. He would have said this clearly if he meant his wife, and experts who interpreted the saying suggested his mother and sister, but he did not mean his wife. This proverb has nothing to do with his wife. Scientists who specialize in the specifics of the masculine psyche have universally concluded that this saying is incorrect and that it derives from the phrase "behind every great man is himself." You can add his hand, shoulder, and leg, his hand that carves in the rock to bring you food, his shoulder that bears concerns, despair, and sadness, his leg that goes to work, and offer his brain that will burst from thinking about your never-ending requests. There is considerable doubt about the adage that we interpret based on our desires. Remove any uncertainty and return the saying to its original context.

2- "You shouldn’t breathe while your Pharaoh is breathing if you are sitting next to him. You should not be breathing near to him. It is preferable to control your breathing." The intention behind her words was that a woman should not keep up with her husband in speaking in order to escape his wrath.

3- "The dirt a man walks on is the best gift," therefore ladies must pray that they can just stare at their husbands' faces on Valentine's Day as the best gift for them.

4- "There is no problem when your husband hits you, abuses you, and uses some of these types of violence against you." This was a response to a December 2022 incident in which the groom attacked his wife in front of everyone on their wedding night, which was widely reported on social media.

5- “If you are fighting with your husband, put yourself on airplane mode and always keep these five words on your tongue: yes, okay, at your service, as you want and Thank you.”

6- "This year, I provided you advise that you won't find on Google. This program is the only one that has it. The most crucial advice is your winter voice. Your winter voice, which you forgot after the marriage, must return, as must your winter eyes, which you must use with your husband 24 hours a day."

7- "When did we forget to glorify our husbands? If your husband is named Mohamed, you can't just call him Mohamed, you have to call him Mr Mohamed. Do not call him Mahma and disregard the last letter of his name. I mean, it would be ideal if your name was "Samah" and he addressed you as "Sama." You will raise a commotion by claiming that he is cheating on you with a woman named "Sama." Call him, 'Mr. for luxury and Muhammad for winter comfort.”

In reality, Yasmine Ezz's call was preceded by other feminist calls related to the issue of polygamy, within which feminist efforts and initiatives were put forward by married women who defended polygamy and devoted time to calling for it, using the excuse of defending women's rights in marriage and achieving motherhood.

Mona Abu Shanab, an Egyptian journalist, is one example of this. She launched an initiative entitled “Polygamy.” Abu Shanab even submitted a request to the Speaker of the Egyptian Parliament in which she demanded the abolition of Law 100 of 1985 regarding a woman’s right to request a divorce from her husband in the event of his marriage to another woman, under the pretext that it is against Islamic law leads to the spread of divorce due to women’s selfishness.

On the other hand, Rania Hashem, a writer, also suggested another project in which she urged that men be allowed to marry again, and she published research titled "Polygamy is Sharia" to defend the idea of polygamy and provide men legal rights.

In the same context, Saudi academic Hawazin Mirza advocated for the formation of a polygamy institute whose aim would be to marry a young man to three women (a widow, a divorcee, and a single) within one month, with the option of marrying a fourth woman as a complimentary gift after ten years. Iraqi MP Jamila al-Obaidi, on the other hand, has called for the adoption of a law that promotes polygamy as a means of protecting divorced, widowed, and unmarried women by offering financial incentives to every man who wants to marry more than one woman under the slogan "We accept each other as partners to protect each other."

The Non-Feminist View of Support and Opposition:
The renewed calls regarding the status of women in their relationships with men within the framework of the family, whether related to resetting the relationship according to media personality Yasmine Ezz's vision, or those related to polygamy according to the visions of other women, revealed a discourse that is hostile to feminist thought, opposed to its sayings, and presents a vision that some have dubbed the "New Harem Era." In reference to a return to a time when women were confined to the home and completely subservient to the will of the man, regardless of whether he was a father, brother, husband, or son.
Between these two addresses, the prevalent trend in defense of women and the achievements they have made in their human rights journey, and the requests for their return to the era of domestic seclusion and subjugation to men, has caused a wide discussion between two opposing trends in the arena:

First: There is a large trend that rejects these efforts, claiming that they are a throwback to a bygone period and that their sole purpose is to increase trends or followers in order to get renown. Because the sanctification of the spouse presented by the proprietors of the return to the harem era is comparable to the model of Si Al-Sayyid, which was prevalent in previous decades. It is a portion of the past that does not depict society, its requirements, or the growth that life has reached, as expressed by some writers in their novels and stories, such as the famous writer Naguib Mahfouz.

Some opposition supporters have filed complaints against persons who hold these ideas, similar to what NCW president Maya Morsy did when she opposed the content conveyed in her program by presenter Yasmine Ezz and urged that it be stopped immediately. The Media Syndicate also sent her to an investigation because her speech is an insult and belittlement of Egyptian women, and it affects them.

They also believed that this content was intended to obscure societal awareness of the tireless efforts being made on the ground to empower Egyptian women, and that it contained inflammatory rhetoric encouraging violence against Egyptian women and normalizing husbands' insulting and beating of wives, as well as that women must accept violence and insult, both of which are legally punishable under the provisions of the Egyptian Constitution, which includes more than 20 articles governing the rights of Egyptian women.

Maya Morsy sent Yasmine Ezz a scathing message that read: "I hope you remember that your history will be seen by your children and grandchildren, and they will be embarrassed. The information on cyberspace is a personal stamp that lasts a lifetime, and if media is your subject of study, I hope you read media books and documents that you have plainly never heard of before, because what you present has no connection to real media, shame on you. Make sure that those who watch the program you present are a generation of girls and boys. You are literally giving away the idea of respect between the two parties and partnership.”
In the same context, supporters of this movement reject the concept of polygamy, believing that the female apostasy towards polygamy was caused by the fierce Salafist attack with its incorrect religious perceptions, as sociology researcher Samia Qadri believes, stating that women will live a real tragedy if they allow the fossilized culture to determine their fate. It establishes general frameworks for its movement in life, and demanding polygamy, as some women do, is a lifestyle that returns women to the slave market, making them subject to the man's demands, submissive to his whims, and receptive to his needs.

Second: A movement that supports those who oppose feminism and demand that women return to the harem era under the guise of protecting the family and preserving its stability. This trend has been expressed by a number of artists, including actor Alaa Morsi, who supports Yasmine Ezz saying: "she (Yasmine Ezz) talks about the value of men and the need for men and women's relationships to be similar to fathers and grandfathers. I respect all ladies because they symbolize my sister and mother."

Yasmine Ezz's opponents were also addressed by director Omar Zahran, who stated: "Why are you upset with a broadcaster and blame her for calling on women to respect, appreciate and sanctify the highest relationship between a man and a woman, between a husband and his wife."

Fifi Abdo, an actress, agreed with this approach, adding, "I have a strong personality, but all my life I've said, 'The man is the master, at home and outside the house."

The basic conclusion is that what is happening today on the screen in terms of the status and role of women is akin to recreating the wheel. Do women have a place in the family and society, or are they subservient to males and circle in their orbit? Between these two points of view, we underline that what women suffered from in the past during the harem era, on the one hand, and her triumphs and successes during what was considered as the period of women indicate a sterile battle that life and its advancements have bypassed.

Such calls, which some women make from time to time about the status of women within the family, are devoid of content because they contradict normal human nature in respecting humanity and its values, regardless of gender or race, and this is what religious laws stated, particularly Islamic law, which gave women rights that were clearly and explicitly ignored in the Arabian Peninsula specifically, as well as in some ancient and possibly even contemporary times.

Anyone who is familiar with the status of women in some ancient civilizations, such as the Egyptian civilization, will notice that there are many signs and indicators that confirm the status of women and their leadership, as there are more than five queens who ruled the throne of the Pharaohs, according to historical constants. In addition, the land of Yemen (Sheba) knew the reign of Bilqis (Queen of Sheba), and Islamic culture knew the rule of the queen known as Shajar al-Durr, which signifies that the foundation of the interaction between men and women is equality in human rights.

To recapitulate, all calls that decrease the value and standing of women are linked to parties with an interest or a distorted vision of life, its principles, faiths, and laws.