subject: Noha Wagih: Screw Equality [print this page] Noha Wagih: Screw Equality Noha Wagih: Screw Equality
Published in 2010 by Evolution Publishers,Screw Equality is the debut novel by Noha Wagih and the latest addition to Egypt's growing number of female authors and feminist-themed books. At first glance, it's quasi-impossible to miss the point of Wagih's book; its cover (an attractive female with a cigarette between her lips, languidly lying next to a pair of hairy male legs in a tartan mini-skirt) and title are enough to predict that the next 200 pages will debate the issue of gender equality.
Or at least this reviewer thought so.Screw Equality is a cluttered and confusing collection of personal anecdotes, essays and short stories that read exactly as if the author were speaking: in fact, at several points, you may feel that the author is yelling at you, what with the excessive use of block capitals and triple exclamation marks.
Wagih makes an argument that has long been debated on the issue of feminism and equality: women should not strive to be equal to men, as both genders are different. The author points out that women who strive to be like men will fail miserably, citing the example of a successful businesswoman who tries to have a no-strings-attached affair and ends up broken-hearted.
In her chapter titled Games', Wagih cites her playful monthly column that listed the lines men use to flirt, the lies they tell their girlfriends, and her tough love lecture to any woman that has recently suffered a breakup. Again, this chapter is written so conversationally, it's pretty much like having that no-nonsense friend of yours telling you blatantly and brutally to get over yourself. While this formula may work for some, this reviewer found it condescending.
The following chapter Social Keratotomy' takes the book on a weird turn, where the author explains the symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and reprints an email from a friend suffering from the disorder. What follows is an unstructured rambling of self-deprecating observations, random shouts and questions. The aim of publishing this email may have been to explain the struggles of her friend with the disorder. It does succeed in completely perplexing the reader; to the point that one is unsure where the BPD friend's writing ends and the author's begins. The author ends the chapter with seven pages worth of a list of what she likes and doesn't like, leaving this reader completely baffled by its point and purpose.
In two chapters, the author shows her vulnerable side by discussing her upbringing and her family in one chapter, and advice that she would give to a friend going through a divorce in the other.
Other than those two instances, the author seems intent on coming across as fierce, unapologetic, rash, confident and admired. It takes a lot of gusto to devote pages in your own book to quotes from friends praising you and predicting that you will change the world with your revolutionary theories; and some of these statements teeter close to self aggrandizement.
Screw Equality left this reviewer confused as to the point of the book, other than, well, screwing equality. Wagih's theories and perspectives on feminism are not new, and her observations on gender roles in Egyptian society are not enlightening. What you get is a book that reads like a monologue or like an informal and chatty email forward; except there's no delete button.
