Feminist Fact - Third Wave Inspiration

For the past four years I have been a majoring in women’s studies, and in all four years of discussing feminism and feminists I was never introduced to someone I could relate my experiences to on a cultural level. Sure we speak about Latino feminism, Black feminism, and the majority of the time White Western feminism – but never Arab feminism. Up until my final year, in a course about third wave feminism I was finally introduced to an Arab feminist, Susan Muaddi Darraj. Darraj is an associate professor of English at Hartford Community College in Bel Air, Maryland, a published author and the managing editor of the Baltimore Review¹. Even though it was just one article in one class, it still meant something to me that finally my major in university represented me.

The article we read was called “It’s Not an Oxymoron: The Search for Arab Feminism”² and in this article Darraj speaks of her struggles in feminism, the struggle between white Western feminism and her Arabic culture. Darraj sums up my thoughts on my feminist studies over the last four years by stating that “these were not representative feminists” (pg. 296). We are endlessly taught about many well-known Western feminists, and although they do speak on some level to a shared struggle based on the fact that we are all women, these women do not share the same culture struggles.

I look to Darraj as inspirational because I finally found a feminist who I can connect to, who understands my struggles and puts them out there for others to be witness to. I also look to Darraj as inspirational because through her work she is aiming to diminish the pre-conceived notions western society has of Arabic women by educating the truth. 

Through reading Darraj’s article I was introduced to another Arab feminist, Nawal El Saadawi and an organization she helped build: the Arab Women’s Solidarity Association. This network was “established by a group of 120 women who agreed that the struggle for the liberation of Arab people and freedom from economic, cultural and media domination cannot be separated from the liberation of Arab women.”³ These women stand as an inspiration to me because we often have a false image of what Arab women’s lives are like, silent and obedient – never challenging what needs to be changed. 

Finally, I wanted to share this point from Darraj: “once I realized my own version of feminism, I found myself better able to understand white Western feminism and the many outer storms and internal divisions it has had to weather” (pg.311). I am thankful that I had the opportunity to learn about feminism, even if it was not a feminism I could not connect to right away. As I continue to learn and grow, my feminism will evolve with me and its roots are planted in the early stages of my feminist education.

Resources:

¹ http://www.susanmuaddidarraj.com/biography.htm

² Darraj, S.M. (2002) “It’s Not An Oxymoron: The Search for an Arab Feminism” in Colonize
  This! Young Women of Colour on Today’s Feminism. Emeryville, CA: Seal, pp.279-292.

³ http://www.awsa.net/profile/index.html

 
  ©2011, Zain Alglaieny