The battle for the soul of the Arab man
May 2012 – The polarised debate over Arab women overlooks the fact that men can be victims of the patriarchy too and their identity is a cultural battlefield.
International Women’s Day: Empowering the average Mo
March 2012 – Arab men who do not fit the traditional ideal of manhood are often regarded as inferior, and this stereotype holds back the emancipation of women.
Sex and the citizen in Egypt and America
January 2012 – Fundamentalists in America and Egypt are obsessed with “virtue “and “vice”. But the rise of Islamists threatens to bind Egyptian women in a moral vice.
التغلب على الخوف، الخطوة الاولى لنساء مصر
قبل الثورة لم يكن سهلا ان نتخيل نساءا تتحدى سلطة الاب او الزوج وتخرج للتظاهر لكننا وجدنا نساءا واجهن الموت والخوف ,وتلك هى الخطوة الاولى لمواجهة اى غبن
From the Chronikles: In the name of equality
January 2012 – As Belgium toys with the idea of allowing mothers to pass on their surnames, is there a way to make naming practices fairer?
Egypt’s middle-class cyberheroes
November 2011 – Social networking and blogging voices the dreams and aspirations of the young and middle-class in Egypt, leaving other groups as marginalised as ever.
From Arab spring to summer of love in Egypt?
July 2011 – The Egyptian revolution awoke hopes of a new era of gender equality and of greater sexual liberty. But how likely is Egypt to have its own summer of love?
No revolution for Egyptian women
July 2011 – Despite the political earthquake that has rid Egypt of its patriarch-in-chief, attitudes to gender remain largely the same. Now women must stand up for their rights.
June 2011 – Egyptian and Arab bloggers have dedicated 20 June to blogging against sexual harrasment. This Chronikler special report examines, through personal testimonies and analyses, the causes of this troubling social phenomenon and examines various creative solutions.
June 2011 – In Dubai, the Middle East’s self-styled party capital, women who say they have been raped can find themselves behind bars for adultery.
The Arab myth of Western women
November 2010 – Unflattering as some Western stereotypes are of Arab men, Western women also get a bad press in conservative Arab circles.
November 2010 – Some in the west are more likely to believe in elves in Middle Earth than in Arab men in the Middle East who are secular and do not oppress women.
I say you want a revolution, Egypt
July 2010 – Activists in Egypt should look to the hippy movement of the 1960s for a successful model in bringing about long-term social change.
July 2010 – Advocates of banning the face veil want to take away the only choice some women have – the choice to conform.
May 2010 – An Arab-American Miss USA may have put Muslim beauty on the western map, but let’s also recall all those women of courage and talent.
Miss USA 2010 and an Islamic cover-up
May 2010 – Rima Fakih’s Miss USA win is welcomed by many Arab-Americans, but some neocons denounce it as a sinister Islamic plot.
April 2010 – Sexual harassment in Egypt is leading to calls for gender segregation. But is hiding women really the solution?
January 2010 – A Saudi journalist is demanding that women be given the right to four husbands. Should equality mean monogamy or polygamy for all?
Closing the ‘hijab murder’ file
November 2009 – The life sentence imposed on Marwa al-Sherbini’s killer shows that European Islamophobia exists but is not institutionalised.
November 2009 – As the singer prepares to visit Egypt, Christian and Muslim fundamentalists agree: Beyoncé is the root of all evil.
October 2009 – Having kids is no longer the preserve of married couples, or couples full stop, it now seems. That’s all good and well, but does it mean dads will soon be surplus to requirements? No way!
September 2009 – The ‘Chinese hymen’ may make pre-marital sex safer in a patriarchal society but a woman’s honour should not lie between her legs.
Covering heads and veiling poverty
September 2009 – In Egypt, Hijabless women are becoming a shrinking and marginalised minority who have to keep their bare heads down.
انكمش عدد النساء المتبرجات (غير المحجبات) وصاروا أقلية مهمشة في مصر
July 2009 – Egyptian outrage at the brutal murder of Marwa Sherbini, the ‘hijab martyr’ is understandable. But If Egyptians want better justice for Muslims in Europe, then they should demand more justice for non-Muslims at home.
What’s love got to do with it?
June 2009 – For Egyptian marriage offices, the search for profit has replaced the search for a perfect union.
May 2009 – The taboo surrounding the cruel murder of family members in the name of honour is slowly being broken.
November 2008 – Why is fairness so coveted in societies with darker skin?
November 2008 – Society is becoming more equal but our surnames – borrowed from fathers and husbands – lag behind. Is there a fairer system?
September 2008 – Egyptian women have broken their silence on sexual harassment and are demanding the right to go out in public unpestered.
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