A critical reflection on Egyptian feminism and psychology: Nawal El Saadawi, the best loved, most hated and best-known feminist in the Arab world

Abstract

his paper aims to offer a critical reflection on one of the most known names in Egyptian Feminism and Psychology. Nawal El Saadawi’s name is known to many in the Middle-East for having been stained by social taboo, controversy and continuous debate over the past decade. She is one of Egypt’s most outspoken feminist writers and a Psychiatrist by training. Her profile has never been higher since the revolution in 2011 and its aftermath. In her time, she has stood for Presidency and advocated for women rights, anti-oppression movements, gender identity, freedom, and has campaigned against FGM and against wearing the veil for the most parts of her career. She defines herself wherever she goes as a proud Arab woman, an activist, a writer and a free- spirited Egyptian who demands nothing but full respect from men and from a society which still holds onto values and beliefs of a stagnant culture and religion. El Saadawi once claimed that her role is to link politics and society, to bring both together in a fight for justice and to ask why.