Analysis Of Taymor And Shafika As A Chick Flick

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Recommended: Role as a woman in Egyptian society

Taymoor and Shafika as a Chick Flick.
Chick Flick films are mostly appealing to female viewers, they discuss issues that are relevant to women, and they have a female protagonist. However, slight changes exist depending on the origin of the film. Egyptian films are more determined on setting gender binaries than Hollywood films. Upon looking at an Egyptian Chick Flick from a Women’s Studies’ student’s point of view, it is way more engrossing, hence it is full of the standard chauvinistic ideals held by the Egyptian society. “Taymor and Shafika” is a fine example of the remarkably patriarchal works produced by the Egyptian film industry.
Shafika, a young PHD holder, and Taymor, a hardworking police officer, are in love with each other ever …show more content…

If a woman is vocal about demanding her rights, it will not lead anywhere and she will eventually give in to the patriarchal order. It’s as if a woman abandoning her future for a man’s sake is like natural order. “A woman is predestined to her husband and her home” Shafika’s mother tells her this at some point. The romantic narrative in the film is played out as the only narrative of value for Shafika. No matter how successful Shafika becomes, her relationship with Taymor is the central theme in her life. Technically, Shafika is more successful than Taymor but that does not change their gender roles in the film. In Nawal El Saadawi’s essay “Writing and Freedom” she says: “The creative man has a wife who delights in his success and feels happier as he becomes more successful. The creative woman has a husband who gets depressed when she succeeds, and gets increasingly more depressed as she becomes more successful.” This concept is screened by the script writer Tamer Habib and reshaped in a way to make Taymor’s dissatisfaction with her success be seen as merely a result of his jealousy and possessiveness of

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