Suzy Joseph Ramez Ameen

Meritförteckning

I'm currently a doctoral candidate of gender studies nearing the end of my doctoral journey. My doctoral thesis titled "Decolonising Sexual Freedom in Dialogue with Egyptian Women in Germany" addresses the topic of sexual freedom in Egypt and its Western diasporas from a decolonial feminist perspective. I did fieldwork in Germany between 2017 and 2019 interviewing 45 (mainly cis, heterosexual) Egyptian women aged 21-mid forties. I carried out qualitative, open-ended interviews allowing room for personal histories evolving around gender, family, dating, migration, and transnational connectivities with kin. In the interview analysis, I deploy postcolonial and decolonial feminist theory (e.g., Hatem, 2004; Joseph, 1999; 2005; Kandiyoti, 1988; Lugones, 2007; 2010) as well as affect theory (e.g. Wise & Velayutham, 2017) as methods. In the thesis, I engage in decolonising and nuancing the conversation on calls to a sexual revolution (Eltahawy, 2015). Following the historicisation of the Egyptian women's movement as well as a contextualisation of the trajectory of secularism in the context (Asad, 2003; Scott, 2017), I highlight some of the pertinent structural issues in the way of sexual emancipation locally. These issues include, but are not limited to; (1) complex intergenerational love/power dynamics (e.g. Joseph, 1999) making secrecy (regarding dating and premarital sex) a condition of connective patriarchy thus separating women from their kin's protection and support, (2) gynaecology functioning as a gatekeeper of family values making sexual and reproductive healthcare highly reclusive to married women leaving sexually active unmarried women vulnerable to STDs and unwanted pregnancies, (3) lack of personal space as most young adults typically abide in the family home till marriage, (4) misogynistic dating dynamics characterised by sexual exploitation and disregard for women's (sexual) agency, (5) religious difference considering interreligious dating can be cause for sectarian strife (as is the case in Lebanon), (6) and the role of religion in the discursive construction of the sexual contract with God as an ever present "third party" (Schielke, 2019). In addition, interlocutors' transnational connectivities with their families further complicate the emancipatory potential of what I call migration "freedom dreams" (inspired by Schielke's "migrant dreams", 2020) considering several interlocutors travelled to Germany in pursuit of personal (including sexual) freedoms. I argue that these complexities, both locally and transnationally, are likely to put women in a vulnerable position vis a vis their families, the wider society, and men. In diaspora, many find themselves in between worlds with no place in either as they experience affects of loss, longing, guilt, and shame. Some find themselves in coercive dating dynamics as they are compared unfavourably to their Western sisters. I argue that paying attention to women's lived realities as well as the workings of the sexual revolution, if it can be named as such, is salient to a decolonial feminist activism anchored in context and the specific struggles of women both locally and in migratory contexts. Finally, delinking sexual freedom scripts from human worth can be a starting point to enhancing women's agency as well as nuance feminist understandings of freedom.    

I did my MA in Gender Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London (2013-2014). My master's dissertation, titled "Sexual Harassment in Egypt: A Contested Epidemic", tackles the thorny issue of sexual harassment in the Egyptian context. The dissertation contextualizes the discussion in current post-revolution Egypt and deconstructs the plethora of interconnected layers at the heart of the contestations surrounding women's bodies in private and public spheres.

I did my MSc in Film Studies at the University of Edinburgh (2006-2007) and wrote my dissertation on the counter cinematic practices of Youssef Chahine. I did my BA in English Language and Literature at Cairo University (2001-2005). And I spent a semester at New York Film Academy (NYFA) in Los Angeles (2014-15) studying documentary filmmaking (cinematography, directing, producing, lighting, writing and editing).

I spent three years working as an Instructor of Design Theory at the Faculty of Applied Sciences and Arts of the German University in Cairo (2010-2013).