Second Seminar: Discussion of the book “The Image of Feminist Philosophy in Contemporary Arab Thought”

The second book of the “Gender Theses” program was entitled “The Image of Feminist Philosophy in Contemporary Arab Thought” by researcher Dr. Lina Jazrawi. The book sheds light on the reality that “has ruled women since the dawn of time, classifying them as inferior relative to the status of men, and treating them as a fixed tribal given. This image has remained dominant in human memory for long periods of time,This resulted in a state of rebellion against this reality, as a result of which intellectual currents were formed that examine the reasons that determined the role and status of women based on their biological composition.” The author explained that the book revolves around “the question that we are looking for an answer, which is: Can we say that there is an “Arab feminist thought”? In the course of research, it has become clear to us that there is a strong relationship between the status of women and the renaissance of societies.And that the status of women is the answer to the most frequent question of the Renaissance, which was posed by the thinkers of the Renaissance and continued by the thinkers of the modern era, which is “Why did the West advance and we delayed, and to this day the same questions are still posed, and the feminist proposal is still subject to the provisions of society and its traditions.” According to Jazrawi, this illustrates “the passivity of Arab thought towards radical changes.The feminist issue is still seen as a separate issue from the issues of society, although it is an integral part of the emancipatory thought of peoples, and one of its facets such as bread, freedom, citizenship and dignity.”In conclusion, the author considered that feminism is a matter of society, and part of the process of comprehensive emancipation, which includes under its umbrella both women and men. We are still looking forward to developing this thought in line with the requirements of the modern era, so that it has the courage to look at cultural and social phenomena, and the real factors that shape them.”For her part, Dr. Lubna Tarabay, head of the research team in social sciences at the Higher Institute for Doctorate in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, touched through a critical scientific reading on the importance of the book as “trying to chart the development of feminist perspectives globally and in the Arab world, through a selective review of some authors, whose writings the researcher defines as pioneering literature in Arab feminist discourse.It includes attempts to trace the documented areas that explain gender disparities, as it takes us back in time to the oldest myths available to reveal original records, documenting the perception of women, and revealing what these references considered to be the characteristics that accompany them, and that determine the construction of their personality and abilities.”For Tarabay, “the continuation of intellectual records has produced a feminist discourse in contemporary thought, with the emergence of writers and thinkers who dealt with women’s issues boldly and deeply, shattered taboos and waded deep into society and dealt with women’s relationship with the renaissance of political, economic, cultural and social societies.” Tarabay considered that “the book The Image of Feminist Philosophy in Contemporary Arab Thought,It is a reference for all academics interested in feminist work, a reference for students interested in the subject of women, and also a basic reference for teaching in university subjects that give materials on gender and gender equality. She concluded her intervention by raising multiple problems, questions and approaches, some of which dealt with the proposed conceptual tools to study the feminist reality, and how we can study women. And even to raise the issue of its freedom outside the framework or outside the philosophical debate that has been imposed by the West. She pointed out the need to recognize that not all women’s experiences are the same, as there are no Arab women, but Arab women, and each of them has their own experiences.