A Feminist Reading Of Miral Al-Tahawys Brooklyn Heights

A Feminist Reading of Miral Al-Tahawy’s Brooklyn HeightsMiral Al-Tahawy’s Brooklyn Heights is an autobiographical novel that tells the stories of Egyptian women. The dominant voice of the female narrator and the numerous female characters from all backgrounds and generation makes the novel a rich text for feminist analysis. Al-Tahawy is an Egyptian author living in the United States, and her protagonist, Hend, is an Egyptian poet who immigrated to the States in search for a new beginning. As Hend struggles to fit into the new world around her, she remembers her life in her conservative Bedouin village back in Egypt. She remembers her mother, grandmother, girl friends, and all of the struggles that shapes their reality. This essay aims to read Brooklyn Heights from a feminist perspective. Lois Tyson in her book Critical Theory Today summarizes the core of feminist theory in “Women are oppressed by patriarchy economically, politically, socially, and psychologically.” This is evident in Brooklyn Heights through the different struggles the female characters face. Hend grew up witnessing her mother’s economic struggle because of traditional gender roles. Since it is the man’s job to provide for the family and the women’s responsibility to take