MER Article The Politics of Iran's Satellite Era “Once,” the Iranian comedian Mehran Modiri notes, “our marital relationships were formed over long distances. An Iranian man would explore the world abroad with his father’s money. When the money ran out, he would suddenly miss home-cooked qormeh sabzi and ask his family to send him a pure Iranian b (Author not identified) • 16 min read
MER Article The Moral Panic Over Chinese in Egypt On a brisk autumn evening in 2010, male coffee shop patrons in the upscale Cairo neighborhood of Zamalek were treated to the sight of young Chinese women in miniskirts circulating to hand out brochures for a new massage parlor. It was an unusual sight indeed for Egyptian public space -- both the wom Jessica Winegar • 8 min read
Current Analysis The Fiction (and Non-Fiction) of Egypt's Marriage Crisis In August 2006, a 27-year old pharmacist started blogging anonymously about her futile hunt for a husband in Mahalla al-Kubra, an industrial city 60 miles north of Cairo in the Nile Delta. Steeped in satirical humor, the blog of this “wannabe bride” turned into a powerful critique of everything that Hanan Kholoussy • 17 min read
MER Article Transgressing Patriarchy There is a general perception in Egypt today, shared by fans and many critics, that “old” Egyptian films depicted sex more tastefully than recent films. The following passage by critic Hisham Lashin is typical: Until approximately the middle of the 1960s, the Egyptian cinema treated the subject of Walter Armbrust • 10 min read
MER Article "This Is the Bride" With only approximately 6 percent of married women in Yemen living in polygamous marriages, such relationships are neither popular nor widespread. Nevertheless, polygamy in Yemen remains a complicated issue. Janine A. Clark • 3 min read
MER Article Secularism and Personal Status Codes in Lebanon Marie Rose Zalzal is secretary general for Tayyar al-‘Ilmani (Movement for Secularism) and a practicing lawyer in Abu Rumana, Matn, Lebanon. Part of a research project on the impact of Lebanon’s civil war (1975-1990) on women, the interview was conducted by Suad Joseph on September 29, October 6 and Suad Joseph • 8 min read
MER Article On the Right to Dream, Love and Be Free Michel Khleifi, born in Nazareth in 1950, studied theater and cinema at INSAS in Belgium, where he currently resides. In 1980, Khleifi directed his first film, Fertile Memory (al-Dhakira al-Khasiba). Khleifi received international acclaim following Wedding in Galilee (‘Urs fi al-Jalil, 1987), which Livia Alexander • 8 min read
MER Article Women and Personal Status Law in Iran Since the establishment of the Islamic Republic, personal status law -- governing marriage, divorce and custody -- has become one of the most politically salient issues in Iranian society. Within weeks of the establishment of the Islamic Republic, the Justice Ministry was notified to cancel all laws that were deemed Homa Hoodfar • 8 min read
MER Article The Woman with Two Husbands I, the undersigned, give full power of attorney to the embassy of the State of Palestine to do everything possible to get my daughter, Laila, student at the University of Sanaa, College of Education, out of Yemen. I certify that she is not allowed to marry in Sanaa since she is still married to her Anna Wurth • 3 min read
MER Article Autonomy and Gender in Egyptian Families The Egyptian family is changing in significant ways, modified by the social and economic realities of everyday life which are in turn affected by changes in the local and international economy. Extended family living arrangements are declining in favor of nuclear families, which now account for 84 p Cynthia Lloyd, Barbara Ibrahim, Laila Nawar • 3 min read
