A Feminist Approach to Arts

To whom it may concern,

My name is Doaa. I am an immigrant and I want to share my experience with you.

When you decide to immigrate, it means you exhausted all the options in your own country to create a better future, and you saw more hope in the new one.

Being an immigrant is one of the toughest decisions anyone could make. You leave your family and your friends, and you don’t know when or if you’ll see them again. All your connections with them becomes virtual. You realize that you miss out on lots of things that you once took for granted, like your mother’s homemade cooking.

Sometimes, it means that you have to leave your prominent job to start from scratch in a new land where you’re treated as an outsider. These are jobs that you most probably won’t do in your own country, but you don’t care because you want a better life. In some cases, your family will sell some of their belongings to help you get a plane ticket and follow your dreams.

 This new land doesn’t welcome you with open arms. You face all kinds of xenophobia and racism, but you reach a point where you get used to all that and move on. You face a cultural shock for a very long time and you have to force yourself to adapt as fast as you can. You feel lonely, and on those rough days, you don’t have a family or a friend that speaks your same language to cry on their shoulder.

 I consider myself to be a privileged immigrant because I had all the means that allowed me to go through the procedures to apply for different types of visas in my travels. I feel privileged because I never had to worry about being deported to a war-torn country or to a place where I felt my life was threatened.

 I don’t believe anyone is illegal; but, colonialism and stealing land are illegal. Separating families is illegal. Putting children in concentration camps is illegal. The immigration policies that separate families were created on stolen lands. Going through immigration the “legal” way requires financial privilege. So, if you decide to risk yours and your families’ lives on a boat, or whatever risky methods to enter a country, it means that you’ve been through so much struggle in your life that you saw this step as your only escape. Economically, so many countries would fall without the contribution of the immigrants because immigrants do the jobs that locals wouldn’t.

 When we witness people begging authorities to stay in jail rather than be deported, or when we hear the heartbreaking voices of children crying and asking about their families, humanity is in question, and we reached a stage where love and empathy don’t exist anymore. Creating a world based on hate and fear is never the answer. Investing our energy on love and compassion would make the world a much better place to live in.

 And trust me, no one wants to leave their homeland and be an immigrant elsewhere; but circumstances force us to choose between our homeland and our future.

Doaa, an immigrant on the Unceded Coast Salish Territories

February is Black History Month. I never self identified as a black person. The word black in Egypt is very offensive. I was called blackie in the streets and in school.

I always denied my Nubian roots because that’s the black part of Egypt and being dark skinned is shameful. People around me never believed I was not Nubian as I was too dark to be pure Egyptian (aka African and even though Africa is mostly black).

I spent approximately the first five years of my life in Alabama. As far as I remember, I was described there as a cute and pretty girl. But things changed when I moved to Egypt. I was always harassed because of my dark skin, curly hair and thick lips. I never saw myself as a pretty individual. I remember the days I used to cry on my mom’s shoulders because classmates or people in the street made fun of the way I looked. My mom always reassured me (and still does) that I was beautiful inside and out. This struggle with my physical appearance lasted until high school. Throughout those years, I tried my best to have a clearer skin by using fairness cream and avoiding going to the beach. I even got my hair straightened on regular basis; and even that didn’t save me from the harassment because of course with a hair like mine, it would take longer time to get it that straight.

As a consequence, this was one of the many reasons I wanted to leave the country. I thought people in the West would accept and appreciate my skin colour and curly hair.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t always the case. In every country I’ve been to whenever I went to a hair salon, I always got comments like “your hair is complicated”, “Can I touch it?”, “Wow! Look how curly that girl’s hair is”…etc.

I absolutely despise my hair. When my roots come out, my self-esteem drops drastically. I spend lots of time using flat iron before going out with friends or even before heading to a fitness class.

In Vancouver, it is quite challenging to find a hair salon that deals with Afro hair which might be due to the lack of black community. If they do, I have to apologize for making them spend more time on my hair or I get treated badly. Last week, I was calling some hair salons to see if they straighten Afro Hair. I stressed that my hair is Afro and the lady over the phone just bluntly asked me what type of hair I had and if it was Asian or Caucasian?

I completely understand that it might not be their intention to be mean to me but comments like this are very hurtful. So, as a result, when I get my hair straightened, I take off my glasses and look on the floor to avoid seeing myself in the mirror.

To honest, I am very grateful that at least in Canada I am not perceived as an ugly blackie nor harassed in the streets. I hope one day I will be brave enough to embrace my curly hair and let it grow without adding any more chemicals to it

I know it is contradicting to be that insecure as a feminist who always encourages self identified women to be proud of who they are. But this is a reminder that nobody is perfect and we all have our insecurities.

First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude for everyone who supported and followed my case from the very beginning until now. I am touched by the amount of messages and emails I’ve received expressing support for my case, which has been followed by thousands all over the world.

I got married on August 1st on the Unceded Coastal Salish Territories without my mom present, but soon after, I received the great news that she was granted a visa to visit Canada, and will be here soon. Although she wasn’t with me then, I am extremely happy that she was finally accepted, and we will have a small celebration when she arrives, since she missed the big one.
My story is not unique. My story is only one of thousands, maybe millions, where unfair decisions were made in regards to border politics. Immigration laws are getting stricter, but humanity is not dead. The increasing number of people overstaying their time given has caused a culture of fearing “The Other”. The ideology of “Otherness” creates barriers between nations, but The Other should not be feared. We need to build a culture of tolerance and love without looking at race, social class, religion, gender or sexual orientation. This is a story of solidarity and love and it wouldn’t have gotten this far without the amount of love and support I received from thousands of people I don’t personally know.

Honestly, when I started writing my story, I was hoping to get 1000 signatures so I could reach my MP, and was surprised to find 19,000+ people signed the petition. I never expected the media would cover it because I thought it was nothing special. I spent so many sleepless nights sobbing in midst of preparing for my wedding, while working on this. This victory was neither easy, nor personal, but serves as a reminder to speak up against social injustices and to fight for our rights. Do not ever give up on a dream you have, no matter what everyone around you thinks or says.

Never underestimate the power of writing. Just remember to always have hope, no matter what.

Canada is known as a tolerant country that embraces people from all cultural backgrounds. On July 1st, everyone celebrates Canada Day as a form of gratefulness and pride to belong to this nation.

On occasions like this, we should not forget that Canada is home to millions of people of varying races, religions, and social classes. Some have ties to the country since its inception, while others have recently come to make this wonderful country their home to have a better life. I love Canada. I love that I can express my opinions freely without worrying about being arrested, but at the same time, I can’t help but feel that this once open country has adopted a fearful idea of anyone visiting from certain countries and overstaying their welcome.

I am an Egyptian citizen who has been living in Canada for almost five years. I obtained my M.A. from the University of British Columbia, and am currently working and living in Vancouver. Two years ago, I started dating a Canadian man, and we fell in love. On August 1st, 2015, we are getting married, and I applied for a visa to have my mother (my only living parent), visit me to attend the wedding. I was completely shocked to find out that the CIC’s office in Cairo rejected my mother’s visa. The reasons given were that her ties in Canada are stronger than the ones in Egypt, and that she lacked sufficient funds to cover her short stay. This marks her third time being rejected to visit Canada. I am an only child and my father passed away when I was young. My mother decided to not remarry or work so that she could dedicate all her time to bringing me up and giving me all the care and love to compensate for the loss of my father.

My mother visited me in Vancouver in 2010 when I was depressed, suicidal, and admitted to hospital. I was told I wouldn’t be released until a family member would come to Canada to stay with me and ensure I wouldn’t be left alone. Doctors gave me 2-3 minutes to make an international call to tell my mother all of that. I was reluctant to do so, as I didn’t want to give her a heart attack by saying her only daughter could have died, and then hang up. A few days later, she was granted a visitor’s visa, and was allowed to stay in Canada for up to six months. In fact, despite loving and missing me, she left a full month earlier because she didn’t like the cold weather and couldn’t be away from Egypt for such a long time. She considers Egypt her home, and is more comfortable there; she has no interest in immigrating to Canada.

I keep asking myself, why should a mother be forced to come when her child’s life is at stake, but blocked when they have a reason to celebrate together? Why should a woman be punished for neither working, nor remarrying, by being barred from even visiting her only child in Canada? Why is there discrimination against specific nationalities when it comes to simple family visits? Why must I walk down the aisle alone just because of border politics? All I’m asking is for her to attend my wedding, which is a basic human right. I don’t need my mother to visit Canada for long term, just for the most important day of my life.

I only have 30 days left until my wedding. This means that my options are very limited in appealing to the government to change their mind and allow my mom to visit me. All I’m asking is that if you can understand how important it is to have your only living parent come to your wedding to please share the hashtag #bringmymomtomywedding with everyone on social media. This day means so much to me, and I would love to spend it with my husband and my mother, and not have her miss out on this joyous occasion.

I would like to thank you in advance for any and all help you could offer me. I can be contacted via Facebook (Doaa Magdy), Twitter (@doaamzahabm) or by email at doaazahab@gmail.com.

Happy Canada Day,

Doaa

Last night I watched the documentary Wonder Women: The Untold Story of American Heroines (2012). The main focus of the topic is the evolution of the strong and independent heroine figure represented in Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman is considered to be the only major heroine in the male-dominated field of Comic books. The movie analyses the metamorphosis of this character throughout the decades and how she inspired the birth of various powerful female figures in Action and Thriller movies such as Thelma and Louise, Alien and The Terminator. The documentary points out how the figure of Wonder Woman changes in parallel with women’s role in society in general. For example, in the forties, when Wonder Woman emerged, women played a major role in society by invading the workspace while men were fought in WWII. As of the sixties, Wonder Woman was no longer as powerful, and became more submissive and emotional, which is part of the stereotypes about women that patriarchy created. In regards to Wonder Woman’s outfit, the spectator can easily notice the impact of the male gaze on it, because throughout the decades, she is wearing less, and is more sexualized.Although the documentary highlights the importance of the image of heroines in American pop culture, it failed to show the lack of representation of heroines of colour and indigenous origins. Many spectators don’t identify with Wonder Woman because she is white, skinny and heterosexual. I think contemporary pop culture still lacks the voices and representation of self-identified women of different races and sexual orientations. From my perspective, X-Men is the comic that initiated the representation of women of colour as powerful heroines through the characters of Storm and Mystique. Storm is the first major black female character in comics, while Mystique is a character that defends the rights of marginalized people in society and can easily switch herself from one race and gender to another. Even with these powerful female figures, the show is still titled X-Men and the documentary didn’t mention it in its analysis despite how prominent the series has been in the last decade alone, especially compared to Wonder Woman’s lack of films.In order for feminist film theory to have an inclusive perspective, all feminists must keep in mind that it is not a movement that only represents white, able-bodied, heterosexual women. Feminism is a socio-political movement that must represent self-identified women of all races, social classes, shapes and sexualities

Aaja Nachle (2007) is an Indian movie focused on female protagonism. The main character Dia, a dancer, is not a traditional Indian woman as she rebels against the traditions of her family and her society.

The film starts with the marriage between Dia and an American man whom she fell in love with. This relationship caused troubles in her family who didn’t agree with this marriage because of cultural differences. She is a strong woman that didn’t obey these rules and decided to go to USA with him and leave behind all the restrictions that have been inherited for ages. But this decision, made her lose her previous figure in town. People started to disrespect her because she is a divorced woman and judge her for abandoning her family.

She lives in USA for years, gets divorced and has a daughter who goes with her to her town in India in her first visit in years. In this visit, we as spectators see the same oppression practiced upon women even though years passed by. Her daughter represents the new generation of women: an open-minded and liberal little girl.

When Dia goes back to her hometown she finds out that her guru passed away but left her a video message asking her to do her best to save Ajanta Theater from being demolished because raja* decided to build a shopping mall instead.

Ajanta Theatre represents the gender identity (re)construction in the past and the present through performative arts: dance and music. It is the place where Dia finds herself, where she built her dreams and rebelled against traditions. Here the role of art is so important because art is always viewed as a second category thing compared to politics.

Another important point is that oppression against women is considered to be part of politics as well. In this film, everyone at the beginning makes fun of Dia because she’s a female dancer that’s supposedly not allowed to work in the musical/artistic field only because she is a woman. Another obstacle they put to Dia  is that raja only gives her one month to try to convince people to make a show on this Theatre, if not it’ll be demolished. Despite this limited time and all these obstacles, Dia doesn’t give up. She keeps on trying to convince people for days to participate in this show. The main reason of people’s rejection was the sense of shame because dance is viewed as a shameful thing especially for women but eventually Dia succeeded in convincing them of the importance of art and uselessness of shopping mall which wouldn’t contribute in the (re)building of history and culture in this town. She said a very important sentence which emphasizes this point: One of my masters once told me that: “Art doesn’t need city but city needs art”. Therefore, no culture or history of country could be created without art and we need collaborate to keep it alive. It took her days of hard work and auditions but all this effort didn’t go in vain and on the premiere of show, it was so successful.

It an important movie that combines between topics of gender, politics and art. Thanks to Dia all her town appreciated the role of art and the legacy of Theatre will last forever. Besides, it isn’t shameful anymore for women to dance. Her daughter as a symbol of following generation witnesses all the causes her mother fought for which gives us hope that the next generation of women won’t be subordinated to traditions and repressive politics anymore.

*Raja: Indian male monarch

Domestic violence is one of the major issues that women have been fighting against for ages. In many countries, no serious or legal actions are taken against this crime. But cinematographic representation of this problem contributed in the rise of public awareness towards this serious issue.

The echo(2008) is one of  many movies that focuses on violence against women. Although it is a horror movie, its major theme is about a woman who is a victim of physical violence.

The movie talks about Bobby who has been recently released from prison then he moves to the same apartment in an old building where his mother died in mysterious circumstances. While he is there, he keeps on hearing strange voices and seeing imaginary people. The persons he sees are next door, it is a family of a wife, her husband and their daughter. The wife is always beaten by her husband and asks for help. Afterwards, he finds out that this apartment has been abandoned for many years and these visions are nothing more than illusions but there is a strange curse that killed some persons in this building.

We find out that the story resides in that this lady one day decided to run away with her daughter from this violent relationship, then her husband gets angry and starts to beat her. She keeps on screaming and knocking all neighbours’ doors reaching out for help but no one answers. Then he kills both his wife and his daughter and shoots himself.

The curse is considered as a revenge because everyone has been careless about this lady. This is an outstanding approach that opens up spectators’ eyes to the seriousness of this situation and encourages them to take positive actions either by calling 911 or at least doing something instead of standing and watching through windows. The reason that many people don’t care is that domestic violence is either considered as a personal case or something normal between couples that only they should take care of.

Finally, this curse is resolved when Bobby hears the woman screaming he opens the door and tells the man to stop. Then she changes her tragic end by brutally beating her husband to death. The director wants to tell us that by little help, care and solidarity we can abolish domestic violence.

The movie reflects the society’s perspective towards this crime represented in this lady’s neighbours’ attitude but at the same time it has an optimistic end because this lady changed her fatal destiny thanks to the intervention of Bobby in the right time which gives us hope that death isn’t the only end for domestic violence. On the other hand, this family is anonymous because it represents the suffering of many women in many places around the globe.

The echo proved that cinema is a strong weapon that can help many battered women to see themselves on screen, stand up courageously and take a serious action against this dangerous situation.

Hollywood got us  used to view “the other” through the Americans’ eyes. But the movie Hostel added a new perspective regarding the topic of “otherness” within modern society, and the novelty is that Americans are the “others” in this series of movies. We see how they are perceived by “other” nationalities in “other” territories as well.

Hostel belongs to the genre of gore/horror. Until this moment it has three parts. The main plot in the first two parts is about American backpackers touring Europe whose destiny takes them to Slovakia where all their tragedy begins. In Slovakia, two different perspectives are presented to the audience: one from the angle of Slovakians and the other from that of the American guys. Slovakians are fascinated by the fact that the guys are Americans only because they’ll be their best prey. While Americans see them as some second-class citizens.

In part I, three guys go to this country only because someone recommended them a hostel over there where there are pretty women. Once they arrive, their roommates are sexy ladies who they end up sleeping with. In Part II, the protagonists are three girls who study Art in Italy and go to Slovakia because a girl on the train(with destination to Prague) recommended them a spa over there.

Later on, the protagonists of both parts turn into victims of some sick rich people who pay thousands of dollars to enjoy torturing their victims. This movie implies various interpretations and highlights at the same time many topics relevant in the contemporary society: hatred towards American citizens (because of the imperialist American ideology), racism, criticism of capitalistic societies reflected in the awkard behaviour of rich people who don’t know what else to do with their money other than paying to torture.

Besides, the image of the female characters in all three parts are based on the image of femme fatale: women who use their sexuality to seduce men and destroy them, in this case, to literally “drag them to hell”.

Although part III has the exact same idea, the actions occur in Las Vegas and this time it’s Americans against Americans which implies the idea of the brutality of human nature nowadays in general where there is no “other” to hate.

Despite the extreme violent scenes, in this movie, which is based on true events, I actually think it reflects the brutality that prevails in our world nowadays in wars and places of torture as Guantanamo, Abu gharib….etc. At the same time it makes us as audience see a part of society that remained unknown until this movie was released: paying for torture and the pleasure of seeing others in pain.

Last but not least, there is one thing that attracted my attention: all protagonists are white and of course the rich people are represented as white as well. Therefore, I asked myself: could this be as well a criticism of the dominance of the white bourgeoise ideology?

(In the living room, Lukacs has just come from a meeting with Thomas Mann)

Me: I’m sorry sweetheart but we have to break up asap.

Lukacs:whaaaaaaaat? Can I know why?

Me: I don’t know what to say. But I can’t understand what you want from me or what are expecting from this relationship.

Lukacs: Doaa, tell me the truth. Is it Brecht? 

(Silence)

 Lukacs:(crying) omg,This whole thing doesn’t seem real, I mean”realistic”I never felt”alienated”from anyone like I am now. That son of the bitch thinks he can take you away from me with his Verfremdung?But he doesn’t know me.I’ll show him who Lukacs really is.(Screaming).But, how dare you? are you dumping me for a man like HIM?do you know how women were like in the 19th century? 

Me: Honey, that’s one of the things I don’t like about you.You always talk about the past.We are in th 21st century why are you mentioning the 19th?(crying) I never felt this way before.Sorry to say that but I hate you!!

(Voice comes out of the bedroom)

Brecht:Hey Doaa. What’s going on?are you okay?(Goes to the living room).Holy crap!Lukacs??????????

(Door opens)

 Adorno: Hey, sweet Doaa.I really need a hot shower.I’ve been fighting with Benjamin the whooooooooole day.(Moments later).Jesus! Lukacs?????

 (Washroom door opens)

Barthes: What is this noise?who are these three gentlemen? Is the”image”I’m seeing infront of me”signify”you’re betraying me?

Me:(Thinking):OOh man!I’m screwed!

(To be continued)

On a very long flight from Vancouver to Cairo, I got the opportunity to watch a couple of movies on board and one of them was The rite (2011) staring Anthony Hopkins. The movie is based on true events which talks about Michael who attends a seminary school and then decides to give up his position due to lack of faith. But he is reluctantly sent to Rome to attend an exorcism class by Father Lucas (Anthony Hopkins) then he should give his final decision regarding his career.

In Rome, Michael sees the process of exorcism of a pregnant teen which was raped by her father and consequently got possessed. From here I want to start my discussion because in all movies about exorcism the exorcists are always men, while victims are women. Church has represented power throughout history and consequently this power is represented by masculine figures. Besides, in this movie we see that this girl, who is a victim of rape, is the one who is possessed by devil not the criminal who is her father. Another point that indicates the status of marginalization of this character is that she doesn’t have a name which denies her existence within the movie and on a broader basis where the existence of many raped women is denied by different societies.

The link between women and (d)evil  has started since the creation of Adam and Eve and how history made Eve the one responsible for our expulsion from heaven because she listened to devil’s words. Therefore, this idea is still present in a movie produced in 2011 where the girl is being punished for nothing and this brings back to our mind the stereotype that always accuses women for being responsible for the rape in different cultures. Afterwards, this girl and her baby die because she is weak and can’t defeat the devil while the masculine characters survive until the end because they are powerful and are able to defeat the devil despite of how strong it is. Besides, as we have seen woman plays a secondary role because another character is Angelina who is taking the same course with Michael. Angelina in different scenes in the movie always walks behind Michael as his shadow. She never takes the lead and just follows his instructions. Therefore, I think this character could have been eliminated without affecting the plot.

On the other hand, it’s quite interesting that Hollywood still produces movies about exorcism in a time when people believe less in religion. Moreover, it’s always faith and religion that save victims from the devil again in a time where people believe more in science more than anything else. Isn’t this quite contradictory? I mean to try to convince people to hold on to their faith as the only power to conquer the evil. Or maybe evil here holds a meaning beyond the literal representation of devil? Realistically, our world now is dominated by evil as there are hatred and wars between different nations, we human beings represent evil as well because we constantly destroy our own plane and occupy others’ territories. Therefore, we need good souls as Father Lucas to create a better world. But still the good souls are represented by religion and the director chose the Vatican as a place of actions to emphasize on this point. And above all the good is represented by men who are supposedly the ones who will save us in the end.

Although I can’t deny that I enjoyed the great performance of the whole cast, but still I’m waiting to see a movie where women are exorcists, “priests” and can finally occupy powerful positions.

I’m sure this day will come!