Sexism

We’ve broadcast today a new Arabicast episode on MEYArabic; an interview with Dr Sahar Al Mougy.
The interview was recorded during Ana Al-Hekaya (I’m the Tale) workshop, that has taken place at the AUC from 27 to 29th of December 2009.
The workshop, which is held annually since 1998, focuses on rewriting and renarrating the Egyptian folkloric [...]

Shahin Najafi, an influential Iranian rapper has released his first solo album “Illusion”. He is the most prominent Persian protesting rapper. His main lyrical topics are society, politics and religion. According to Wikipedia, he studied sociology in university but failed to obtain a degree, because he felt that he learns more from society than classrooms. [...]

By appointing Mrs Ebtekar as the first female Vice President of Iran and the head of Environment Protection Organization during the former reformist administration, Presidnet Khatami broke the taboo which afterward even a conservative president like Ahmadinejad followed his way by once again appointing a woman for the position.
It’s the utmost position an Iranian woman [...]

Last July, the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights released a shocking report on sexual harassment in Egypt. Almost two-thirds of the men surveyed reported that they perpetrated sexual harassment, and half of them blamed the women for bringing it on. In a society where the onus of the blame lies on the woman, it’s unsurprising [...]

In order to remedy his disturbing temptations, Saudi cleric Muhammad al-Habadan proposes a highly convenient solution for women: one-eyed veil.
A Muslim cleric in Saudi Arabia has called on women to wear a full veil, or niqab, that reveals only one eye.
Sheikh Muhammad al-Habadan said showing both eyes encouraged women to use eye make-up to [...]

It’s not an award ceremony for distinguished students. It’s not a youth program. It’s not a library.
It’s a public discussion by civil society organisations in Yemen on child marriages, and the pictured girls (aged 8, 10 and 12) are child brides.
Child marriages occur worldwide, from Yemen to Mali to Nicaragua. While religions are frequently cited [...]

We learn from the news that a new sex separation park, called “Mothers’ Paradise,” was recently opened for women in Tehran. Under the Sharia abiding regime of Mullahs in Iran, “Mothers’ Paradise” is not the only sex-segregated park in Iran. Such only-for- women parks have already been established in other Iranian cities, including Mashhad and [...]

Try as I might, I could never understand the mindset of sexual harassers, and in fact I don’t want to. Most of my female acquaintances have reported being subjected to sexual harassment, from groping, to stalking and even violent rape. Whether it’s a testosterone overload or megalomania, I just wish harassers would realize the effects [...]

Baroness Haleh Afshari, PhD is a renowned Middle Eastern scholar. I read a chapter in her book, “Women and Politics in the 3rd World” and I was surprised by some of the things I read. The author makes several persuasive points about the emerging, or I should say re-remerging form of Islamic feminism. But first, [...]

In a precedent in Yemen, an eight-year-old girl filed a complaint against her father in court, for forcing her to marry a 30-year-old man.
The girl, whose identity should have been withheld for her protection, was subjected to sexual and domestic abuse by her rapist.
“My father beat me and told me that I must marry this [...]