| Chapter 1: | Naguib Mahfouz: Western and Islamic Feminist Perspectives |
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A certain confusion has always surrounded the correct definition of feminism. For instance, Rebecca West, British author and critic, states that “I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is,” and adds that “I only know that other people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat or prostitute” (219). West may have expressed herself cynically, but she boldly expresses her dissatisfaction with others’ assessments of her form of feminism. Another feminist, bell hooks, agrees we do not have “a consensus of opinion about what feminism is” and suggests that some confusion is the result of various movements such as ‘women’s lib’ which constructs a very general definition that ‘aims to make women the social equals of men’” (50). She questions, “Which men do women want to be equal to?” (50). This is significant since men are not equals in a white supremacist, capitalist, patriarchal class structure.
Feminism is a worldwide movement that knows no boundaries and, like postcolonialism, has international characteristics. For this reason, some critics agree with Chandra Mohanty that “generalizing and prescribing feminist perspectives from the Western centers” is a danger. Mohanty claims that the danger is “easily produced by homogenizing non-Western women into one group while maintaining the superiority of Western women over against the rest” (qtd. in Postcolonialism, 103–4). Judith Butler in Gender Trouble poses an interesting set of related questions that helps to lay the foundation for the remaining discussion: