Egypt is gearing up for its presidential elections next year. As campaigns are off to a head start, so too is the mudslinging. The latest smear campaign is targeted at opposition leader and potential presidential candidate, Mohamed ElBaradei. However, instead of maligning ElBaradei himself, the smear campaign dishes out its unscrupulous attack on Laila ElBaradei, […]

In a reversal of Egypt’s recent trends regarding women in the judiciary, Egypt’s State Council voted this month to ban the appointment of female judges to the council. Despite the fact that Tahani El Gebaly was appointed to be Egypt’s first female judge in 2003, and 31 more women were appointed as judges in 2007, […]

I came across an interesting Associated Press article a couple of days ago titled Egyptian women break new ground at the mosque by Canadian journalist Hadeel Al-Shalchi. The article discusses how Egyptian women are beginning to not only frequent mosques more, but to use their time there to socialize, learn about Islam, and participate in […]

In this past week’s Friday links, Fatemeh mentioned that Al-Azhar University had for the first time approved a tafsir (interpretation) of the Qur’an written by a woman, Kariman Hamzah. The BBC story on this event left a lot to be desired. The first thing that was seriously wrong was the headline “Egypt clerics back woman’s […]

I am a 21-year-old spinster. Yes, a spinster at 21. In my country, although many many Egyptian women are delaying getting married until they’re in their mid-to-late twenties, society still looks at them with a critical, disapproving gaze. “Men and women were made for one another. You are a sinister spinster.” “Better a man’s shadow […]

It can sometimes be interesting (i.e. RIDICULOUS) to hear the advice of a man on how women can achieve equality. Now, of course men can be feminists…I see it all the time. Every movement needs allies and the feminist movement is no exception. However, the first and (by far) most important thing that men can […]

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a critique of a LA Times blog post about and Egyptian organization that is working to combat sexual harassment in Egypt. The BBC News has now has a piece on its website about Egyptian women and sexual harassment as well. The two articles are different. The LA Times […]