Being a young woman in a
patriarchal society and having what our society calls feminist tendencies is
not easy. I study English literature in Cairo University
and 95% of my professors are women. When you are a 17 year old who is still
trying to find herself and is surrounded by women who are strong, talented and
independent, you start wondering why the society around you gives more
importance to males and treats you as the inferior sex. Unlike many young women
my age it was easy for me to understand and embrace feminism and gender
equality because of the women I am surrounded, with beginning with my
grandmother and mother, to my professors and friends. Knowing these women has
definitely changed my perspective. I came to be more tolerant. I came to
realize that our society does not just rate women as inferiors, but there are
stereotypical images of men that all boys are expected to grow up and fit into.
Those images do not just erase the male's identity but they enhance the ideas
of male superiority and at times chauvinism. Being aware of that changed my
anger into positive anger and that was when I started writing.
