Shereen El Feki
Shereen El Feki
Shereen El Feki is a British journalist and author, most notable for her book Sex and the Citadel: Intimate Life in a Changing Arab World...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionJournalist
along although canada coast concrete egypt family line raised runs
Although I was raised in Canada and the U.K., my roots are in Egypt through my father, in a family line that stretches back generations and runs along the Nile, from the concrete of Cairo to the coast of Alexandria.
rights people risk
Civil society must be strengthened to help raise awareness among people living with HIV, and those at risk, of their rights, and to ensure they have access to legal services and redress through the courts.
epidemics people risk
Where you criminalize people living with HIV or those at greatest risk, you fuel the epidemic.
civilization islam ancient
Throughout its history, Islam has borrowed and adapted from other civilizations, both ancient and modern.
motivation attitude inspiration
HIV brings out the best and the worst in humanity, and the laws reflect these attitudes.
motivation inspiration law
Why, in our age of science, [do] we still have laws and policies which come from an age of superstition?
egypt alive world
The patriarchy is alive and well in Egypt and the wider Arab world.
among anglican baptist became book church converted family father free islam jews lay marrying men mother muslim obliged people vicar
My mother's family is Christian: her father was a Baptist lay preacher, and her brother, in a leap of Anglican upward mobility, became a vicar in the Church of Wales. But my mother converted to Islam on marrying my father. She was not obliged to; Muslim men are free to marry ahl al-kitab, or people of the Book - among them, Jews and Christians.
beyond came child decision egypt egyptian faith growing love muslim nor questioned raise respect ritual strictly study taught
Growing up, I came to love Egypt and respect Islam, but I never thought to go beyond the surface. Back in Canada, many of my father's Egyptian friends questioned his decision not to raise his only child more strictly in the faith. I was not taught salat, the Muslim ritual of prayer, nor did I study Arabic.
according arab clash divergent occupy separate
Fulla is the Arab world's answer to Barbie. Now, according to proponents of the clash of civilizations, Barbie and Fulla occupy these completely separate spheres. They have different interests. They have divergent values. And should they ever come in contact... well, I've got to tell you, it's just not going to be pretty.
arab east far grew half
I'm half Egyptian, and I'm Muslim. But I grew up in Canada, far from my Arab roots. Like so many who straddle East and West, I've been drawn, over the years, to try to better understand my origins.
distrust melting pot
Egypt, once a melting pot of peoples, classes, cultures and religions, has, after 30 years of Mubarak's rule, become a place of intolerance and distrust of the other.
arab began comprehend egyptian far grew outsiders pivotal
I'm Egyptian and Muslim, but I grew up in the West, far from my Arab roots. I began 'Sex and the Citadel' to help outsiders - like myself - to better comprehend this pivotal part of the world, up-close and personal.
afford bear burden costs expected expensive life marriage married men plenty research seen trouble
In Egypt, where my research is focused, I have seen plenty of trouble in and out of the citadel. There are legions of young men who can't afford to get married, because marriage has become a very expensive proposition. They are expected to bear the burden of costs in married life, but they can't find jobs.