Headscarves and Hymens

📘 About This Book

A passionate manifesto decrying misogyny in the Arab world, by an Egyptian American journalist and activist When the Egyptian journalist Mona Eltahawy published an article in Foreign Policy magazine in 2012 titled "Why Do They Hate Us?" it provoked a firestorm of controversy. The response it generated, with more than four thousand posts on the website, broke all records for the magazine, prompted dozens of follow-up interviews on radio and television, and made it clear that misogyny in the Arab world is an explosive issue, one that engages and often enrages the public. In Headscarves and Hymens, Eltahawy takes her argument further. Drawing on her years as a campaigner and commentator on women's issues in the Middle East, she explains that since the Arab Spring began, women in the Arab world have had two revolutions to undertake: one fought with men against oppressive regimes, and another fought against an entire political and economic system that treats women in countries from Yemen and Saudi Arabia to Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya as second-class citizens. Eltahawy has traveled across the Middle East and North Africa, meeting with women and listening to their stories. Her book is a plea for outrage and action on their behalf, confronting the "toxic mix of culture and religion that few seem willing or able to disentangle lest they blaspheme or offend." A manifesto motivated by hope and fury in equal measure, Headscarves and Hymens is as illuminating as it is incendiary.

📖 Summary

Headscarves and Hymens is a passionate and unflinching manifesto written by Egyptian American journalist and activist Mona Eltahawy. Published in 2015, this slim yet powerful 160-page book expands significantly upon the fierce debate ignited by the author's viral 2012 Foreign Policy article titled Why Do They Hate Us. That article, which broke all records for user engagement on the magazine's website, placed a harsh spotlight on the pervasive misogyny plaguing the Arab world and provoked an intense global controversy. In this book, Eltahawy draws deeply from her extensive years of experience as a campaigner, reporter, and commentator dedicated to women's rights across the Middle East. She argues that the uprisings of the Arab Spring largely failed to deliver liberation for women, who found themselves doubly oppressed by both authoritarian political regimes and deeply entrenched patriarchal structures at home and in society. Eltahawy posits that the oppression of women in the Middle East is propped up by a toxic cocktail of culture and religion, which manifests physically and symbolically through various forms of control over female bodies and mobility. The book is structured around the literal and metaphorical weights placed on women, highlighting how the obsession with female chastity, modesty, and purity limits autonomy. By focusing on issues such as domestic violence, forced marriage, street harassment, honor killings, and the demand for virginity symbolized by the hymen, as well as the policing of dress symbolized by the headscarf, Eltahawy refuses to sugarcoat the realities faced by millions of women. She argues that the revolution in the Arab world will remain incomplete and ultimately fail until a profound sexual and social revolution dismantles the patriarchy. Rather than offering polite academic discourse, Eltahawy writes with a fierce urgency, demanding that international observers, local leaders, and communities stop making excuses for misogyny under the guise of cultural relativism. The book serves as both a wake-up call and a rallying cry for solidarity with Arab feminists who are fighting daily battles for their fundamental human rights. Ultimately, Headscarves and Hymens challenges readers to confront uncomfortable truths about gender oppression, urging an honest reckoning with how religious and cultural traditions are weaponized against women.

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