MER Article

Permanent Transients

“We do not know our destiny. The Jordanian government might ask us to leave at any moment,” said Hana, a widow in her fifties. “There is no rest for a guest.”

Isis Nusair • 20 min read

Current Analysis

A Separation at Iranian Universities

On August 6, with the new academic year approaching, the government-backed Mehr News Agency in Iran posted a bulletin that 36 universities in the country had excluded women from 77 fields of study. The reported restrictions aroused something of an international uproar.

Parastou Dokouhaki, Nazanin Shahrokni • 15 min read

Current Analysis

Tie a Pink Ribbon

Obligatory displays of Komen pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month continue their spread beyond women’s accessories and yogurt containers into the masculine redoubts of the NFL and even the US military. While NFL players and coaches will spend the month sporting pink accessories, sailors in the Sou

Amanda Ufheil-Somers • 2 min read

MER Article

The Struggle of Devout Turkish Women for Full Citizenship

In the spring of 2011, amidst vociferous debates over the prospect of a third term in office for the “Islam-friendly” Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Turkey, a group of devout women launched an initiative called “No Headscarves, No Vote.” The activists demanded that all Turkish political part

Amelie Barras • 12 min read

MER Article

Gender and Revolution in Egypt

During the 18 days of the uprising against Husni Mubarak’s autocratic rule, the streets were filled with women from across the Egyptian social spectrum. Young and old, veiled and unveiled, poor and affluent -- women came out in force to support the movement for a democratic revolution. Yet the

Mervat Hatem • 14 min read

Current Analysis

Tawakkul Karman as Cause and Effect

Political activist Tawakkul Karman has brought Yemen’s revolution to New York, speaking directly on October 20 with Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and organizing rallies at the United Nations headquarters in lower Manhattan, the largest of which is slated for the afternoon of October 21. The purpose

Stacey Philbrick Yadav • 9 min read

MER Article

Conspiracy of Near Silence

Shortly before the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003, the administration of President George W. Bush began paying a great deal of public attention to the suffering of Iraqi women under the regime of Saddam Hussein. In speeches and meetings with Iraqi women in exile, the Bush administration

Nadje Al-Ali, Nicola Pratt • 13 min read

MER Article

Kholoussy, For Better, For Worse

Hanan Kholoussy, For Better, For Worse: The Marriage Crisis That Made Modern Egypt (Stanford, 2010).

Ziba Mir-Hosseini • 4 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

Current Analysis

Behind Egypt's Deep Red Lines

For six weeks, Egypt has been sitting on top of a sectarian volcano. Protesters, men and women, have been exiting mosques following prayers almost every single Friday since the beginning of September to demand the “release” of Camillia Shehata, a Coptic priest’s wife who they believe has converted t

Mariz Tadros • 14 min read

MER Article

Enloe, Nimo's War, Emma's War

Cynthia Enloe, Nimo’s War, Emma’s War: Making Feminist Sense of the Iraq War (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2010). War is usually presented as all about hard power and weaponry. In school, students are taught about generals, battlefields, advances in armaments and innovations in milita

Lauren Geiser • 4 min read

MER Article

All the President's Women

Raising eyebrows all around, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced on August 16 that he would nominate at least three women to be ministers in the new cabinet that, unresolved controversy notwithstanding, he will head as president of Iran. It was a step unprecedented in the 30-year history of the Islamic Republic, whose

Nazanin Shahrokni • 15 min read