A presentation that discusses how technical innovation played a crucial role in developing and preserving the gender respectability of women entertainers and elevating the status of some of them to become national sociocultural icons.
Through the career of three women; the legendary singer Umm Kulthum who had an exceptional career over six decades, the most celebrated singing movie star Layla Murad, and the pioneer filmmaker and music composer Bahiga Hafiz. Their careers coincided with the utilization of the microphone, record, and sound cinema. Arguing that technology helped those talented women to solve the contradictions inherited in their high visibility as entertainers and gender respectability by keeping satr as understood in the Egyptian social culture.
Contact Info: Abby Limmer alimmer@arizona.edu, Center for Middle Eastern Studies
