Women's Film Series to look at Arab feminism March 10

The Rehoboth Beach Film Society will present a four-part Women’s Film Series Thursdays during March, Women’s History Month. This year’s theme is Women Changing the World. The second screening of the series, "Feminism Inshallah: A History of Arab Feminism" will be at 7 p.m., Thursday, March 10, at Metropolitan Community Church of Rehoboth, 19369 Plantation Road, Rehoboth Beach. Doors open at 6:30 pm.

The struggle for Muslim women’s emancipation is often portrayed as a face-off between Western and Islamic values despite the fact that Arab feminism has existed for more than a century. This groundbreaking documentary recounts the largely unknown story, from its taboo-shattering birth in Egypt by feminist pioneers up through viral internet campaigns by today’s tech-savvy young activists during the Arab Spring. Moving from Tunisia to Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, filmmaker and author Feriel Ben Mahmoud tracks the progress of Arab women in their long march to assert their full rights and achieve empowerment.

Cultural anthropologist Susan Schaefer Davis will lead a post-film discussion. Her expertise is gender and women’s studies, specifically women living in Arab and Muslim cultures. Davis became interested while working in a rural Moroccan women’s center in the 1960s as a Peace Corps volunteer. She got her PhD at the University of Michigan, taught at the college level for 10 years and then became a consultant on economic development in the Arab world.

Admission for this event is $6 for members and $8 for nonmembers. To purchase tickets, go to www.rehobothfilm.com or call 302-645-9095, Ext. 1.