A cynic might assume the launch of a new anthology on Arab feminism would involve a very short book.
But as it turns out, Min Fami – officially released last month at Octopus Books – includes nearly 300 pages of writings by more than 40 contributors from around the globe.
The widespread perception in the West that Arab women have not embraced feminism is an idea the book’s co-editor, Ghaida Moussa, says she wants to fight.
A singular image of these women is passed on by Western media, according to Moussa. “Arab women are highly misrepresented or completely absent. Regardless of how that happens or when it happens, it’s rarely coming from Arab feminists themselves,” she says.
Moussa, who grew up in Ottawa, is now a PhD student at the University of Toronto. Her editing partner, Ghadeer Malek, was born in Palestine but moved to Canada 10 years ago and is earning a master’s degree, also at the University of Toronto.
To introduce the section on resistance, the pair reflect on the uprisings in Egypt in 2011 – around the same time they started working on the book. They write that the prevailing view in the west is still that popular uprisings mean installing radical Islamic governments, an idea which “reduced Muslim cultures and religions to violence, and Arab women to passive victims of that violence.” However, women and men are standing side by side on the frontlines in Egypt, they say.
The final version of the book was the result of three years’ work receiving and editing submissions, according to Malek. She says it’s impossible for her to remember how many responses they got after sending out a general call for submissions through academic circles, she says.
“Out of those abstracts we read and read and read, and it was such a difficult process to select the material that’s in here.”
Pei-Ju Wang, who organized the launch, says she was first became aware of the book while she was planning events for Israeli Apartheid week at the beginning of March. She says she still wanted to host the launch, even though the book was published too late to be tied to the week of resistance against occupation of Palestine.
The book’s themes are cover more than just political issues in the Middle East, Wang says. She added that she was drawn to the book on a more personal level. “The theme of identity was something I could relate to, because I’m also a woman of colour,” she says.
The editors were joined by two of the book’s contributors in a panel discussion to talk about their experiences as Arab women. Yafa Jarrar, one of the panelists, moved to Canada from Palestine at 17. She says she was intrigued by the way Western media presented the struggle between Israel and Palestine, since it conflicted with her own memories – particularly of the role of “women freedom fighters”.
“Media has definitely been a major part in showing that image of Palestinian women being passive, being forced into doing things,” she says.
She added that feminist writing, especially by those fascinated with female suicide bombers in Palestine, did nothing to add more to the conversation. “So many of the Western feminists are guilty of perpetuating the oppressions and things that we are trying to challenge,” she says.
The panelists, all now living in Canada, also spoke about the difficulties of finding their identity while feeling like they belonged to two worlds: the place their families are from and the place they live now. The book deals with a number of issues, and the editors said they didn’t want to limit themselves when looking for submissions.
She says this diversity is the key to combating the misperception of Arab women that she and Moussa found in the west. “Arab women’s voices are diverse. There isn’t one type of woman, there isn’t one type of voice,” she says.