Patriarchy, which presumes that men are superior to women, is baked into Egyptian society on all levels – cultural, social, economic and political. Young women who speak out on just about anything for just about any reason are considered brave. The repercussions could be life altering, despite the relatively comfortable class status of university students.
Feminism in Egypt is not a new phenomenon. Young Egyptians have many role models who span decades of feminist activism. These include the activist Huda Sha’rawi – the godmother of Egyptian feminism.
Encouragement is provided through dialogues led by professors and peers, according to feminist pedagogy (the theory and practice of teaching). The podcasters were able to provocatively analyze prevailing gender and sociocultural conventions as a result.
The narrative nonfiction audio episodes covered a variety of subjects, including family involvement in arranging marriages for young women into prosperous families. The participation of women in the 2011 Egyptian revolution was the subject of another podcast.
Our podcasters represented a variety of feminist viewpoints and showed the multifaceted feminist roots. These included post-colonial, western, and black feminist viewpoints. As a counternarrative to prevailing patriarchal standards, their lived experiences are a welcome addition to Egypt’s digital landscape.
The podcasters also fully exhibited the use of podcast affordances – such as sound and music, as well as tone, inflection and other nuances in delivery and narration – to enrich their nonfiction stories.
