By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
DailynewsegyptDailynewsegypt
  • Home
  • Business
    BusinessShow More
    Egypt to issue new bonds for climate, social goals
    Egypt to issue new bonds for climate, social goals
    September 27, 2023
    Saudi Public Investment Fund eyes stake in Palm Hills Development
    Saudi Public Investment Fund eyes stake in Palm Hills Development
    September 27, 2023
    UNDP, MBRF launch online learning initiative for Arab countries
    UNDP, MBRF launch online learning initiative for Arab countries
    September 27, 2023
    Egypt Post invests in Roaderz platform to enhance e-commerce, delivery services
    Egypt Post invests in Roaderz platform to enhance e-commerce, delivery services
    September 27, 2023
    GAFI to grant 45 more golden licences to boost investment
    GAFI to grant 45 more golden licences to boost investment
    September 27, 2023
  • Politics
    PoliticsShow More
    Egypt’s Irrigation Minister highlights climate challenges for water sector
    Egypt’s Irrigation Minister highlights climate challenges for water sector
    September 27, 2023
    CCCPA, Senghor University join forces for African peace, development
    CCCPA, Senghor University join forces for African peace, development
    September 27, 2023
    Arab League chief urges more funding, investment for food security
    Arab League chief urges more funding, investment for food security
    September 27, 2023
    Egypt denounces Houthi attack on Bahraini forces in Saudi Arabia
    Egypt denounces Houthi attack on Bahraini forces in Saudi Arabia
    September 27, 2023
    vPalestine urges international action to end Israeli occupation, crimes
    Palestine urges international action to end Israeli occupation, crimes
    September 26, 2023
  • Interviews
    InterviewsShow More
    Microsoft Egypt aims to provide advanced AI models, build solid AI ecosystem: Mirna Arif
    Microsoft Egypt aims to provide advanced AI models, build solid AI ecosystem: Mirna Arif
    September 18, 2023
    I love privacy, and I am not concerned about competition: Yasmine Sabry
    I love privacy, and I am not concerned about competition: Yasmine Sabry
    September 14, 2023
    Sustainability, digital transformation at the heart of our strategy: Heidelberg Materials Egypt
    Sustainability, digital transformation at the heart of our strategy: Heidelberg Materials Egypt
    September 12, 2023
    India welcomes Egypt's BRICS membership: Boosting trade, investment, and access to strategic commodities
    India welcomes Egypt’s BRICS membership: Boosting trade, investment, and access to strategic commodities
    September 11, 2023
    The box office is not a measure of success: Basma Hassan
    The box office is not a measure of success: Basma
    September 6, 2023
  • Culture
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle
Reading: Egyptian girls fight taboos through music
Share
Notification
Latest News
Genetically engineering associations between plants and nitrogen-fixing microbes could lessen dependence on synthetic fertilizer
Genetically engineering associations between plants and nitrogen-fixing microbes could lessen dependence on synthetic fertilizer
Science
Earthworms contribute to 6.5% of global grain production, says new research
Earthworms contribute to 6.5% of global grain production, says new research
Science
Researchers build and test a framework for achieving climate resilience across diverse fisheries
Researchers build and test a framework for achieving climate resilience across diverse fisheries
Science
Egypt to issue new bonds for climate, social goals
Egypt to issue new bonds for climate, social goals
Business
Saudi Public Investment Fund eyes stake in Palm Hills Development
Saudi Public Investment Fund eyes stake in Palm Hills Development
Business
Aa
Aa
DailynewsegyptDailynewsegypt
  • Home
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Interviews
  • Culture
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle
  • Home
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Interviews
  • Culture
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle
Have an existing account? Sign In
Follow US
  • Advertise
© 2023 DNE News. All Rights Reserved.
Dailynewsegypt > Blog > Culture > Egyptian girls fight taboos through music
Culture

Egyptian girls fight taboos through music

Daily News Egypt
Last updated: 2015/06/04 at 4:36 AM
By Daily News Egypt 7 Min Read
Share
The album’s cover displays a woman with face piercings, something that is highly unacceptable in the Egyptian society (Photo from Facebook)
SHARE
The album’s cover displays a woman with face piercings, something that is highly unacceptable in the Egyptian society (Photo from Facebook)
The album’s cover displays a woman with face piercings, something that is highly unacceptable in the Egyptian society
(Photo from Facebook)

By Nayera Yasser

The spot light on three girls, faces that could be seen anywhere around Egypt. They introduce themselves but not by their ages, jobs or education. They introduce themselves through stories from their everyday life, stories that remind them that they will always be a second-class citizen in a biased community.

Nazra for Feminist Studies organised one cosy album launch to give nine girls a proper channel to reach out to their fellow females, and share the common struggles women face in Egypt.

Right off Talaat Harb street and in the heart of Rawabet Theatre, young women between the ages of 15 and 32 got on stage and sang six different songs that tackle all aspects of womanhood.

“Nazra always aims at merging art with social and feminine issues, today is only a part of incorporating youth with artistic initiatives and developing projects,” said Fatma Mansour, project manager at Nazra.

Being an advocate for women’s rights, Nazra held a creative writing workshop last July in an attempt to help ladies belonging to different backgrounds express the modern reality of womanhood in Egypt.

“This album started with a writing workshop called “Arosty”, “My Doll”, which was organised by Nazra to discuss the things we hear in our community that aim to stereotype people without any rational reasons. At the beginning of the workshop we spent several days writing about this theme until we reached the decision of writing collaborative songs that we ended up recording in an album,” said Dina Ahmed, one of the participants.

The organisation, along with the participants, chose to turn their words into songs in an attempt to reach a wider public in a smooth and effective way.

“Things that are associated with music tend to reach people’s subconscious faster. Also we had Mayam, Esraa and Marina who already sing both rap and solo,” said Hagar Ramadan, one of the youngest participants, as she was only 15 at the time of the workshop.

According to Ramadan, the workshop’s main goal was to write songs and theatrical acts that dive into the subject. Therefore, the album’s release event did not only include the tracks. Between each and every song, the three performers (Mayam Mahmoud, Esraa Saleh, and Marina Samir) shared personal stories that explain the topics.

“One of the great things about this workshop is that the 8 participating girls varied in age between 15 and 32, and we all sat together to share all the things we are used to hear,” said Ahmed.

The album started with a workshop that encouraged the participants to share the words they usually hear (photo from Flickr by Nazra for Feminist Studies)
The album started with a workshop that encouraged the participants to share the words they usually hear
(photo from Flickr by Nazra for Feminist Studies)

The brainstorming process took an average of 19 hours for three consecutive days, during which the contributors opened up to each other and shared their most personal stories along with several incidents that they encountered.

“We not only told our stories, we also shared our friends’ stories, whether females or males. We interact with all kinds of people and we hear from them the things that bother them as well. We all had societal interests and had participated in various workshops where we heard from men about their struggles,” said Ahmed.

“Bent El-Masarwa”, which can be translated as “Daughter of the Egyptians”, is a six-song album that discusses everything from the local obsession regarding virginity, traditional restrictions forced on women to give up their hobbies, harassment, and the way men usually look upon their partners.

The songs are all in Arabic, yet each one embraces different slang and set of terminologies to represent various sectors of the country, from Upper to Lower Egypt.

However, one of the songs “Anta Al Kamel” (“You are the perfect one”), represents the other side of the story. Unlike the rest of the album, this one adopts men’s point of view on the assumptions and solid stereotypes they have to face.

“Everything that women are currently facing is a mere reflection of what men face, it is an opposite reaction,” said Ramadan.

The night’s success was obvious in the audience’s size, which interacted with the performance perfectly. Even though the songs were released online only a few days prior the event, the public already knew the lyrics by heart as they sang along with the singers. Moreover, due to the large number of attendees, the three ladies had to perform for another round the same night.

“Our biggest success right now is that a large sector of people has heard the album, the main idea is the fact that we were still able to express our minds and speak out, which might solve a few issues. Nonetheless, women’s rights and harassment are both eternal problems that would need years in order to be fixed,” said Ramadan.

“Bent El Masarwa” is only a part of Nazra’s various projects which aim to spread awareness in a free-spirited way, regardless of any financial profits. The event was open to the public while the album’s CDs were distributed for free.

“The idea is to expand our community and create interaction among people who are not involved in feminism cases, whether academically or jurisdictionally, but have the tendency to know more about it once it is presented unconventionally such as through our artistic activities,” said Mansour.

You Might Also Like

Opinion| Switzerland, a reliable partner of Egypt in a changing world

Egypt plans to sell stakes in AlexBank, Vodafone, and other assets by June 2024

Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia resume talks on GERD in Addis Ababa

Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq discuss economic, political cooperation in New York

Egypt, India affirm their strategic partnership, discuss regional issues

TAGGED: Daily News Egypt, DNE, Egypt, event, feminism, rawabet theatre, stereotypes, women, Women Rights
Share this Article
Facebook Twitter Email Print
Previous Article Clashes between lawyers and policemen in front of Nasr city police station in July. (PHOTO BY MOHAMED OMAR) Lawyers to strike against police brutality
Next Article Conference discusses cloud computing with MENA region companies’ CEOs
Leave a comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Ad image
Ad image

Stay Connected

Facebook Like
Twitter Follow
Instagram Follow
Youtube Subscribe

Latest News

Genetically engineering associations between plants and nitrogen-fixing microbes could lessen dependence on synthetic fertilizer
Genetically engineering associations between plants and nitrogen-fixing microbes could lessen dependence on synthetic fertilizer
Science
Earthworms contribute to 6.5% of global grain production, says new research
Earthworms contribute to 6.5% of global grain production, says new research
Science
Researchers build and test a framework for achieving climate resilience across diverse fisheries
Researchers build and test a framework for achieving climate resilience across diverse fisheries
Science
Egypt to issue new bonds for climate, social goals
Egypt to issue new bonds for climate, social goals
Business
//
Egypt’s only independent daily newspaper in English. Discuss the country’s latest with the paper’s reporters, editors, and other readers.

Quick Link

  • Home
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Interviews
  • Culture
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle

Sign Up for Our Newsletter

Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!

© 2023 DNE News. All Rights Reserved.

Join Us!

Subscribe to our newsletter and never miss our latest news, podcasts etc..

Zero spam, Unsubscribe at any time.

Removed from reading list

Undo
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?