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Nicholas Stenslie

Instructor: Kelly Slivka

Engl 250

March 2, 2017

Interpreting the Real Roots of Feminism

The West is commonly known for being the roots of its own modern day values, yet

many people dont know about the progressive roots in ancient Egypt. Khaled Diab informs his

audience about how progressive Ancient Egyptians were compared to ancient Western

civilizations in the article The Egyptian Roots of Feminism through the use of historical facts,

his own reputation, and choosing specific words that have a connotation to fit the narrative. By

using multiple techniques to persuade the reader, Khaled Diab is able to inform his audience

about the progressivism of ancient Egypt.

One of the most blunt ways of persuading people is with facts. Khaled Diab uses

historical facts to rationally prove that ancient Egypt was more progressive than the ancient

Western civilizations. In the section Cradle of Gender Equality Diab notes that women in the

ancient West were not allowed to own property, yet women in modern Middle Eastern countries

are allowed to own the lion shares of the kingdoms wealth. This is a notable comparison due

to the fact that women in Middle Eastern countries have more freedoms compared to the

women of ancient Greece. In ancient western civilization women were considered objects.

They are in the care of their fathers until they are married off and then become under the care

of their husbands Diab writes. The fact that the women were always considered under the care

of a man shows how women in the ancient West had no rights. The section labeled the Sparta

Exception talks about how Sparta was the only western civilization that allowed women to own

property, yet the women of Sparta were blamed for the downfall of Sparta. This proves that
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women can handle the task that a man would normally take care in Western civilization. The

women of Sparta were blamed for the downfall Sparta, even though there was no direct

causation. This proves the intolerance that women faced in western civilization. ancient Egypts

culture allowed women to pursue a career path that they choose, this is stated in the third

paragraph in the section Reversing the Common Practice. This is very progressive for an

ancient civilization, because women werent allowed to pursue the career that they choose until

very recently in western history. The situation of Agnodice was referenced in the second

paragraph of the section Reversing the Common Practice. It talked about how Agnodice had to

flee to Alexandria to study medicine, showing that it was against norms and essentially outlawed

for women to better themselves in order to serve the people, yet during the same time female

doctors were well respected in ancient Egypt. Throughout history, women in ancient Egypt have

had more rights compared to the women of ancient western civilizations.

The best way to learn about a topic is to listen to someone who knows what they are

talking about. By restating his accolades, quoting official sources, and providing links to other

articles, Khaled Diab proves that his word is trustworthy and carries weight. Diab presents a

professional photo of himself at the beginning of his article. The black and white photo gives the

impression that he is very educated and professional in what he talks about. His picture also

gives a face to the words in the article, providing a more accountable, hence trustworthy feeling

to the entry. By restating at the beginning and the end of this article that he is an award-winning

Egyptian-Belgian journalist, he gives his voice weight, saying that he has already been

acknowledged and given an accolade by an organization, so you dont have any reason to

doubt what he is saying. Khaled Diab also links other articles such as Intimate Enemies: Living

with Israelis and Palestinians in the Holy Land that he is well known for. He links this article to

show that he is an experienced journalist that is well versed in the area of the Middle East.

Throughout the article Khaled Diab references other professionals, such as Professor of
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Egyptology Janet Johnson. She is a professor with special interests include ancient Egyptian

women, she is referenced in the section Spartan Exception in the sixth paragraph. By

referencing other established people Diab shows that he has done extensive research, and that

even if you dont trust his word, listen to the other professionals who do this for a living. By

having multiple sources and many reasons to believe Khaled Diab he successfully proves that

he is a trustworthy person with weight in his words.

Word choice is a persuasive tool when trying to persuade people in that you can

subconsciously influence a reader with words with specific words with connotation. Through the

use of words with negative connotation when regarding the ancient West but using words with a

positive connotation when referring ancient Egypt, Diab presents an good vs evil narrative to

promote ancient egyptian progressivism. In the first paragraph of Reversing the Common

Practice of Mankind he references a time when a Greek traveler came to ancient Egypt and

was in a state of dismay when he saw the rights that women had. By using the word dismay

which is a negative connotation for disbelief when describing the attitude of the Greek traveler,

Diab enforces the concept that the ancient West was not pro feminism. Diab says that gender

equality is some alien Western import in the section Reversing the Common Practice of

Mankind. Choosing to refer to the ancient West as alien he is giving an illegal, foreign, and

dangerous aura to the civilization. In doing this Diab is giving the title of them in the us vs

them mentality to the West. In the last paragraph he uses post-colonial societies when

referring to some eastern civilization. By using this term he is giving the implied meaning that

these civilizations were abused, which some countries did do, by Western expansion. By doing

this Diab is promoting eastern culture over Western culture. In the fourth paragraph of the

section Spartan Exception, he uses the word entitled when referring to the civil duties of

women. By doing this he is giving the image that in ancient Egypt women had a right that they

should alway have, but is not always present, promoting the idea that Egypt was good
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because of its progressive policies. When talking about marriage Diab says In their private

lives, they had the right to choose their partner freely. By choosing to use the word right, he

gives a connotative meaning that women were born with this and should be allowed to have

this, the right to choose who to marry. Since he is implying that this is possible in ancient Egypt

but not in the ancient West he is promoting that the east is better than the west because of the

rights that the women had. In the third paragraph of Reversing the Common Practice of

Mankind Diab says this, The top job of all, that of pharaoh, who was regarded as both human

and divine, was mostly off bounds to women, with some notable exceptions, such as the

amazingly accomplished Hatshepsut, Nefertiti and Cleopatra. by using the words amazingly

accomplished when referring to these people he is painting them as heros that should be

admired and looked up to, they are the champions of gender equality because they were

pharaohs. By painting these women as heroic idols Diab is promoting the progressivism of

ancient Egypt. Diab successfully plants the sub conscious seeds of the idea the ancient West is

to be seen in a negative way while the ancient Eygpt is viewed in a positive way in order to

persuade the reader about the progressive behavior of ancient Egypt.

Diab informs his audience about how pro female rights that the ancient egyptians had

compared to ancient Western civilizations through the article The Egyptian Roots of Feminism

by using historical facts, Diabs reputation as being an expert on the topic on women's rights in

ancient Egypt, and choosing specific words that have a connotation to fit the narrative. Diab

does a good job explaining why ancient Egypt was more progressive civilization than ancient

Western civilization, but I think the only practical use for this information would be a true or false

question on a fifth grade geography test to see if the students have been paying attention in

class. Even though I thought that this article was like a circle, in that it has no point, he did use

certain tools to successfully to try to persuade the reader why ancient Egypt was more

progressive than the ancient West.

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Work Cited

Diab, Khaled. "The Egyptian Roots of Feminism." Egypt | Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera, 03 Feb. 2017.

Lololoolol 17 Feb. 2017.