ABSTRACT
After presenting a brief contextual background on Egyptian feminism and Internet adoption, this chapter offers an in-depth look at how six Egyptian women activists used information and communications technologies (ICTs) before, during, and following the Revolution of 2011. Interviews with them took place 18 months after that event. The six women were well educated, ranged in age from 23 to 70+ years of age, had been involved in justice, equality, and democracy efforts prior to 2011, and all of them identified as feminists. Some had encountered cultural gender-based obstacles along the way, but parental support – in many cases from fathers – bolstered their internal motivation. The women reported using social media technologies in nuanced ways during the Revolution, recognizing that some tools were more useful than others, and also relied on traditional face-to-face organizing. They experienced personal benefits and costs of their activism, with expanded networks and friendships, but also online vitriol directed toward them. Of greatest concern was whether feminist involvement in the Revolution would confer upon them true equality as the new Constitution was being drafted. Ultimately women’s rights were affirmed in the legal document, but repressive measures were instituted by successive governments, including the jailing of journalists.
