Shadia, Samia Gamal, Soad Hosny, Hind Rostom, and Nadia Lutfi…these are names of female actresses and dancers that evoke contradicting feelings for many Egyptians today. While they are highly praised and watched for their art and performances on screen, their charm, beauty and bold sensuality is often seen as dangerous and threatening to society’s morals. They were, in other words, the ‘femme fatales’ of Egyptian cinema – a concept that is still hard to define and understand when it comes to explaining women in art. The ‘femme fatale’ is most commonly defined and known to be the popular female actresses in Hollywood, who constructed and propagated this fantasized female figure in cinema and popular culture. It refers to the sensually dangerous woman who posed a threat to the power of the man, whose charms often lead lovers into dangerous and deadly situations, and who is also a morally ambiguous figure. It is a feminine ideal that seems both emancipating and oppressive, allowing the female actresses to be in control of their own sensuality and character, and yet constraining them under the roles and imagination of their male directors. For instance,…
From Monroe to Rostom: The ‘Femme Fatale’ in Hollywood and Egyptian Cinema
August 5, 2019
