Social Class and Gender: A Study of Bodily Practices and Everyday Material Culture in Egypt

Supervisor(s): 

Professor Sam Friedman (Department of Sociology), Dr Jana Melkumova Reynolds (Department of Sociology) and Dr Don Slater (Department of Sociology) 

Biography:

My research interests are located in the nexuses between material culture and everyday life, social class, gender and bodies. 

Inspired by practice theory, I explore how the cultural reproduction of class tastes is carried out, maintained, and challenged through everyday practices and related material objects. I am intrigued about how these processes shape the ways in which bodies are perceived, lived and experienced. My research often takes me to people’s homes, wardrobes, and toilet cabinets.

My regional area of focus is the Middle East, specifically Egypt. I explore how women negotiate complex and competing cultural norms in urban Egypt, which raises relevant questions of identity and agency.