Women and Religiosity: How Lived Experiences Shape Their Practices, Understanding of Religiosity.

The goal of this paper is to examine different meanings and practices of religiosity among Egyptian females during the second decade of the twenty first century. I argue that there have been major shifts in meanings, understandings and practices of religion among youth in general and females. Those shifts could be interpreted from different perspectives; the focus in this paper is on how women have been able to develop these meanings, understandings and practices in their practice of their religiosity.

The last two decades of the twentieth century witnessed an increase of number of young Moslem girls and women across the social\economic board taking veil. In certain aspect, this was a manifestation of the ability of Islamists (social and political powers) to gain popularity and influence among those young Egyptians. Wearing veil was becoming a symbol of the new “persona” young middle-class Egyptian females were asserting; a modern, liberal, well -educated and “good Moslem”. In lower middle class, wearing veil was not as assertive as this, yet it became more of a social practice; girls reaching a certain age and fulfilling her religious\social image by adhering to veil.

Shortly before 2011 in Egypt, a reverse trend started with less girls taking the veil, especially among middle class families. With the turmoil and upheaval that came with political developments following 2011 and afterwards, there has been a noticeable trend of increasing numbers of women and girls taking off their veils. A new “persona” is developing and manifesting itself. Issues of religiosity, piety and conservatism are brought under investigation with more women capable of developing arguments defending their religiosity albeit their “non- conventional” appearances and practices.