Week 13

In the reading “Turning the Gendered Politics of the Security State Inside out” by Paul Amar we are introduced to the gendered sexual harassment regimes in Egypt and the complacency of some Egyptian officers. He discusses the mass protest that occurred January 25- February 11 as well to highlight the work and commitment women activist have in battling against sexual assault. Amar starts the article by giving us an example on how western media pins these sexual harassment problems within the “culture” and not the institution. A woman reporter from the U.S who was a victim of sexual harassment was saved by young Egyptian political activist, yet Fox news in particular left this important point out. Instead, they focused on emphasizing Egypt was not yet ready for modernity or a real democracy. This western viewed rhetoric is continuous. Another important issue is hypersensibility. Amar explains hypersensibility with women and how that is dangerous for their safety, “ Paradoxically, when subjects are hypervisibilized, they remain invisible as social beings: they are not recognizable as complex, legitimate, participatory subjects or citizens” (305).  This means that women compared to the institutional system are seen as objects therefore there safety isn’t a priority. Women started unifying and expressing their demands for safety and to expose the corrupt system. The security state responded by trying to dismantle the work of these women by portraying these women were terrorist. They had people dress in plain colored clothing and yell and act extremely against these women in order to blur and take the attention off of the seriousness of the protest. This was another example of the gendered politics controlled not by a culture but by the institution of the security state. Overall this article introduced the problematic way women were hypersexualized and targeted.  If a woman protested she would immediately be sexualized and juridically be categorized as a prostitute, meaning the system was trying to prevent these women from organizing and having their voices heard.