Confused Backlash

A feeling of unsettlement is often present when social movements, Feminism being just one example, gain traction or enter the public discourse. It is common knowledge that patriarchal norms and privileges are being challenged or thwarted. With that advancement comes what the journalist Susan Faludi termed “backlash”. Her book documents and discusses this phenomenon, whether in popular culture, media, or even in scientific settings and popular psychology in a US-American context. She describes this backlash as “a preemptive strike that stops women long before they reach the finish line”. Arguably, there is similar backlash against Feminist movements in Egypt that has its similarities to its Western counterpart. However, this backlash has its share of confused conceptions of the West and how it relates to Feminism.

The rhetoric of this backlash takes many forms. It can be an attempt to form justifications for discriminatory beliefs and practices or frame the fight for equality as regressive for a society as a whole or women. And it can sometimes exist as unoriginal ridicule and demoralization of Feminism and feminists. Many tools are utilized towards that end. Scientific-sounding myths are formed, like the claim that women have a different “nature” or essence from men, and this nature enables each gender for a certain role. The backlash even reaches the academic domain. Easily debunked scientific research has surfaced in the US claiming that women suffered as a result of these attempts at equality. This research was amplified in popular psychology and media, and since these attempts sound like evidence-based facts, they became popular tools that could frame anyone who denies them as ridiculous.

The different interpretations of religion and their influence are targets of Feminist discourse in Egypt, since some verses and widely held beliefs provide cause and justification for misogyny. This results in a backlash against Feminism. Religious figures commonly hold debates with renowned feminists and more often than not, the aforementioned pseudo-scientific nature of gender is used to make sense of this inequality, which they do not view negatively. They claim that these differences are the source of the assigned gender roles, prescribed by religion, and they are necessary for social harmony. A woman has the natural instinct for motherhood, for example, and the nobility of that goal is to be envied by men and should not be abandoned by women, according to this line of thought. They, therefore, judge Feminism as corrosive to these religious family values.

Many religious figures rightfully perceive a form of cultural neocolonialism, where the West is viewed as a superior culture to the East (even by Eastern people), with Feminism seen as an integral part of the West. Their reactions, though, are very often confused and misguided. It can be an explicit and polemic antagonism to any Feminist discourse or value. The movement is seen as a source of “moral corruption” or “degeneracy”, and a part of a poorly defined secular or liberal project that undermines what is thought of as the fundamentals of religion. And even an outwardly more benign reaction that shares the same beliefs still views Eastern Feminism as an uncritical imitation of the West. The misguided nature of this reaction is that it misses the fact the West has always been patriarchal. It is extremely reductive, therefore, to think of the West as a monolith, where this monolith is also supportive of Feminism—a movement against the fundamental Western patriarchal structure. Uncritical imitation of Western Feminism is not nonexistent in the East, and is reductive as well. And it can be ineffective, especially if it adapts Feminist discourse that ignores the experiences of women from lower classes and focuses on the advancement of only particular classes. But the solution is an awareness of the different narratives in both regions and the common and different struggles. Ironically, the Western backlash claims that women there have nothing to complain about, and Eastern women are the ones who are truly oppressed. The Eastern attack on Feminism, on the other hand, argues that women in the West are the ones who are struggling under objectification and degeneracy. The higher reports of rape in the West are misused to highlight the failure of Feminism the need for “protecting” women. So, it seems that both backlashes are confused there, in their defense.

Another form of backlash exists within many social and online spaces. The saying “when you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression” can be illuminating when it comes to these spaces. Men have many privileges in families and relationships due to patriarchal narratives and beliefs. They exercise power and control over the women in their families. The social space is home to traditionally masculine displays, performances, sexual expressions, and gazes with hostility towards all other performances. There is also a normalization of emotional and physical abuse in intimate relationships. But the women in these spaces are rightfully calling all these narratives and behaviors into question, and the men who have engaged in these behaviors are cognizant of these challenges. Not being able to wield that power, without social repercussions or call-outs, feels like oppression to them. Thus, anger, spite and ridicule seem to rule over that backlash.

In online spaces, this spite reveals itself with many memes designated specifically to it. The meme of “ ”, which translates to cuckold, has a functionally loose meaning. It can be applied to men who do not fulfill their patriarchal roles of performing as per traditional masculinity and controlling women. This has an insidious, demoralizing effect on the struggle for equality in private and public spheres. At AUC, we have seen examples of this backlash in the student-owned AUC Confessions X group with multiple confessions expressing anger against Feminism and the treatment of misogyny as the serious problem that it is. A common caricature they use is that of the spoiled AUC Feminist who doesn’t have anything to complain from with her cars and Louis Vuitton bags, while they themselves couldn’t care less about other classes (or women of other classes, who do not enter their discussions at all) and even joke about them. This shows the nihilistic nature of this backlash, as it does not care about any cause or value and is just a reaction to the privileges and dominance of their beneficial patriarchal worldview being brought into question. 29

Indeed, this sense of irresponsibility and banality is characteristic of any backlash, by definition. Even if it points at some problems in Feminist circles, it confuses itself and misses the point for a virulent, pseudo-philosophical and egotistical victory. And while it pushes back against any progress for women in all their different experiences and struggles, they will ravish in that hypothetical victory of what it views as reason. It is, therefore, necessary to identify this backlash, figure out when and how to engage with it, and when to ignore it and carry on the necessary work. There are many important conversations to be had when it comes to Feminism. Misogynistic memes and weak justifications for patriarchy are not one of them.