Western Mimicry or Cultural Hybridity

Abstract

Qasim Amin ( 1865-1908) remains one of Egypt's most contro­versial figures in the early modem women's rights movement. His use of Orientalist arguments to support the advancement of women's rights and to reform veiling was inflammatory to Egyptians demanding their rights for self-determination. Yet embracing aspects of the imperial value system did not mean that Amin succumbed to colonialism. Instead, he found compat­ibilities between his interpretations of Orientalism and lslam regarding women's morality and the nation's strength. The fusion and hybridity of indigenous and colonial epistemologies can be found in Amin's demand for reforming women's rights in Egypt.