Creating the New Egyptian Woman Consumerism, Education, and National Identity, 1863-1922

A "New Woman" was announced in Egypt at the turn of the nineteenth century. With a new genre of prescriptive literature, new products, a new education, and a physically changed home, she increasingly emerged in public life. This book discusses and debates the place of Egyptian women, while focusing on consumerism and education. Russell sheds much-needed light on the struggle for identity in Egypt at a time of considerable flux and tension and provides a powerful angle to explore changing concepts of social dynamics and broader debates of what it meant to be "modern" while retaining local authenticity.

Mona L. Russell has taught at the American University in Cairo, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.