Bint Al Nil
| Editor | Doria Shafik |
|---|---|
| Categories | Women's magazine |
| Founder | Doria Shafik |
| Founded | 1945 |
| First issue | 1 November 1945 |
| Final issue | 1957 |
| Country | Egypt |
| Based in | Cairo |
| Language | Arabic |
Bint Al Nil (Arabic: Daughter of the Nile) was a feminist magazine which was founded and edited by Doria Shafik, a well-known Egyptian woman journalist and activist, from 1945 to 1957 in Cairo, Egypt.
History and profile
Bint Al Nil was established by Doria Shafik in 1945.[1] A friend of her husband, Ibrahim Abdu, helped Doria Shafik in the foundation of the magazine.[2] The first issue appeared on 1 November 1945.[3] Until 1948 the magazine focused on more general themes in women's lives in Egypt, but then began to discuss the women's rights.[4] It became one of the publications which called for the termination of polygamy and forced marriage.[5] As a result of this change in its content the magazine was accused of supporting women to quit their family roles and to enter into the workplace.[6] In response to these accusations Doria Shafik published an article arguing that Bint Al Nil encouraged women to look for their rights and to pay attention to family life at the same time.[6] From 1946 the magazine published a supplement entitled Al Katkut targeting children, making Bint Al Nil the first Arab magazine which offered a children's supplement.[7]
Bint Al Nil ceased publication in 1957.[2] In fact, the magazine was banned by the Egyptian authorities due to Doria Shafik's harsh criticisms over Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser accusing him being an authoritarian ruler.[8][9] In addition, the government of Nasser put Shafik under house arrest.[1][8]
Legacy
Selected articles from the magazine were archived by the American University in Cairo.[10] In February 2018 Shiva Balagh exhibited her works in memory of Bint Al Nil and Doria Shafik's organization with the same name in Cairo.[11]
In 2022, four editorials published in Bint Al Nil between 1948 and 1957 were translated by Tom Abi Samra and made accessible online by Duke University Press's journal Meridians.[12]
References
- ^ a b Sonia Dabbous (2004). "'Till I Become a Minister': Women's Rights and Women's Journalism in pre-1952 Egypt". In Naomi Sakr (ed.). Women and Media in the Middle East Power through Self-Expression. London: I.B.Tauris. p. 39. doi:10.5040/9780755604838.ch-003. ISBN 978-1-85043-545-7.
- ^ a b Cynthia Nelson (2000). "Doria Shafik's French Writing: Hybridity in a Feminist Key". Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics (20): 138. doi:10.2307/521944. JSTOR 521944.
- ^ Nadeen Shaker (Spring 2018). "Daughter of the Nile". The Cairo View. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
- ^ "VIII. A Hardening Ideology". Doria Shafik website. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
- ^ Miriam Cooke (Spring 1986). "Telling Their Lives: A Hundred Years of Arab Women's Writings". World Literature Today. 60 (2): 213. doi:10.2307/40141684. JSTOR 40141684.
- ^ a b Doria Shafik (October 1949). "Housewife". The American University in Cairo. hdl:10526/1977. Archived from the original on 30 September 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
- ^ Heidi Morrison (2015). Childhood and Colonial Modernity in Egypt. London: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 49. doi:10.1057/9781137432780. ISBN 978-1-349-55571-0.
- ^ a b Jason Lemon (14 December 2016). "Doria Shafik, the woman in today's Google Doodle, helped win Egyptian women's right to vote". Step Feed. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
- ^ Sarah Ansari (2009). "Polygamy, Purdah and Political Representation: Engendering citizenship in 1950s Pakistan". Modern Asian Studies. 43 (6): 1423. doi:10.1017/S0026749X08003776. S2CID 145286191.
- ^ "Bint al-Nil - Journal Collection". American University in Cairo. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
- ^ "Sherin Guirguis, "Bint Al Nil/Daughter of the Nile"". Sherin Guirguis Studio. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
- ^ Tom J. Abi Samra (October 2021). "Four Editorials from Bint al-Nīl". Meridians. 20 (2): 323–339. doi:10.1215/15366936-9547907. ISSN 1536-6936. S2CID 247724299.