الفهرس 
Omaima Abou-Bakr
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Abstract
The digital world has given women the public space needed to support not only other females but also their society in general. Hence, this thesis investigates the potential of cyber communities in constructing new perspectives of public/private sphere, with attention to female users, and how they turn the virtual space into a space of empowerment.It documents and analyzes mainly social, economic, cultural, and religious issues in women’s Facebook groups through using feminist and cyber theories of power and public/private space.Thus, an integrated model of analysis that includes feminist theory of empowerment, mainly Amy Allen{u2019}s tripartite model of power as the {u2018}power to{u2019} act collectively to subvert domination, and feminist understanding of spaces manifested in Nancy Fraser{u2019}s {u2018}subaltern counter publics{u2019} and Rita Felski{u2019}s {u2018}feminist counter publics,{u2019} are used to reveal how space is structured online and leads to women{u2019}s empowerment on different levels. The theoretical framework also comprises Manuel Castell{u2019}s cyber theories of 2communication power3 and private/ public division on virtual space.2Uses and Gratification Model3 is used as an analytical tool to investigate women{u2019}s agency and empowerment on seven Egyptian female Facebook groups which are 27ad Ye3raf? (Ladies ONLY)3, 27ad Ye3raf? (Ladies code)3, 2 هوانم 6 أكتوبر 3 (Ladies of 6th October city), 2Surviving Hijab3, 2 كروشيه emyy ”(emyy{u2019}s crochet), 2Chitchat Box3 and 2Confessions of a Married Woman3. The gratifications examined to explore women{u2019}s empowerment are {u2018}social interaction{u2019}, {u2018}expression of opinions{u2019}, {u2018}information seeking{u2019}, and {u2018}religious enlightenment{u2019}. Findings reveal that women on Facebook groups have become agents of change, and empowerment in many cases has expanded to the offline space in a way that affects women{u2019}s offline reality