Revealing Reveiling: Islamist Gender Ideology in Contemporary Egypt

by Sherifa Zuhur

Overview

Explores the history of Muslim women and debates over gender, which have developed since the golden age of Islam.

In modern Egypt, the pace of Islamic resurgence has increased as in other Muslim societies. Throughout the twentieth century, Egyptian women have fought fiercely for political participation and for legal and educational reform to improve their status. To many of them, the adoption of a new form of the veil seemed retrogressive and ominous. This book explores the history of Muslim women and the debates over gender, which have developed since the golden age of Islam. It considers the opinions, goals, and ideals of fifty Egyptian women, veiled and unveiled, and compares their views to the gender ideology of the contemporary Islamists. Women's social backgrounds are examined in the context of the Egyptian state and its social policies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780791409282
Publisher:	State University of New York Press
Publication date:	07/01/1992
Series:	SUNY series in Middle Eastern Studies
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	207
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Sherifa Zuhur is Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of History at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

1. New Images or Continuous Archetypes?


2. The Process of Listening


3. Her Story: Archetypes and Arguments of Middle Eastern Women


4. Studies of Self-Image


5. Construction of the Virtuous Woman


6. Unveiled Women Reply


7. Dreaming the Myth, and Veiling It

APPENDIX A


APPENDIX B


NOTES


BIBLIOGRAPHY


INDEX

Editorial Reviews

It provides an important look at the very comtemporary phenomenon of veiling in Egypt through the first-hand reports of the women whom Zuhur has interviewed. Her subjects come across as real people and their discussion in relation to the various questions asked provide quite compelling views of the reason why they favor — and oppose — veiling.” — Jane I. Smith, Iliff School of Theology

“In order to come up with the meaning of veiling and unveiling in contemporary Egypt, this book combines discussion of archetypal figures in the history of Muslim womanhood with self-perception, discussion on femininity, and what it is to be religious.”— Valerie Hoffman-Ladd, University of Illinois at Urbana

From the Publisher

The adoption of a new form of veil in Egypt, part of the Islamic resurgence, seems to many women a retreat from advances gained during the 20th century. Fifty Egyptian women report their views in the contexts of their own lives and goals, the gender ideology of past and present Islam, and Egypt's current political and social policies. Paper edition (unseen), $15.95. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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