Programmarchiv

Lecture (English) and discussion (German/English/Arabic) with Noha Sherif

With our new series 'Ibn Rushd Young', we want to give young researchers, intellectuals and artists the opportunity to present and discuss their current project with a (more or less) young audience interested in the respective topic, or maybe even working on a similar one. With this new format, we are establishing a kind of extra-university, non-hierarchical, and interdisciplinary colloquium on topics, issues, and projects which are related, in one way or another, to the Arab World.

The third event for the series will take a closer look at - and have a listen to - Sex talk Bel-Araby: Social media platforms as spaces of sex and sexuality challenging local notions of hegemonic masculinity in the MENA region

Social media has played a significant role in advancing feminist movements in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Several influential social media campaigns have championed women's rights in the area. These campaigns have addressed not only legal reform and women rights, but also several issues, including driving rights and bodily autonomy, and provided community efforts in fighting sexual violence against women. In addition, there are social media platforms that provide virtual spaces for women and queer people to connect, seek help or advice.

With social media blurring the lines between public and private gendered spaces, expression of sexuality and questions related to sexual health are discussed relatively freely on social media platforms, with the advantage of the relative anonymity provided by virtual spaces. The novelty of such platforms is that they provide the content in Arabic and for free, making it accessible to a wider range of audience from different social and economic backgrounds.

In the MENA region, expression of sexuality and sex in public spaces remains a highly masculine domain, however, the lack of constraints and control over social media platforms provide more freedom to women and queer people to negotiate sex and sexuality in a wider public scale, that is otherwise prohibited or restricted. The presentation/talk is an exploration of the challenges associated with creating such platforms, and the reactions that they instigate in their respective local communities. Additionally, to which extent does the spread of such platforms challenge local heteronormative conceptions of sexual relations and notions of hegemonic masculinity?

Noha Sherif will present her findings in a lecture that will be held in English. In the subsequent discussion, questions and contributions to the discussion will also be possible in German and Arabic, and, like in all our events, we will translate as best as we can.

Noha Sherif began her academic journey as a dentist but soon discovered that her passion for literature and cultural studies was what she truly wanted to pursue. She graduated from Humboldt Universität zu Berlin with a degree in Cultural Studies, specializing in the intersection of gender studies, postcolonial theory, and phenomenology. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Gender Studies at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin. Her research focuses on Middle Eastern studies through the lenses of gender, migration, and post-migration studies, with additional interests in postcolonial and colonial theory. She also explores themes of embodiment and performativity in her work.

We would like to point out that the lift in the building is unfortunately not working at the moment. For this reason, access is currently restricted. We would like to apologise for this.