Women of Arab Spring

In a way, the surprise didn't matter. Westerners may have been astonished at the sight of women protesting alongside men during the Arab Spring uprisings, taking part equally in the battles, absorbing the blows and forcing the issue. But the women themselves had a different view.

"It wasn't a surprise for women to see themselves out there," says Rania Al Malky, editor-in-chief at Daily News Egypt. "It was only natural, since women have been a part of all major struggles in Egypt, and so not new for them to be there in a key moment in Egyptian history."

Women at the forefront of the struggles that started in Tunisia and fast carried over into Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Syria have spoken of the protests as reawakening a sense of equality that had long been buried under layers of corruption, repression and social conservatism.

The problem now is of a retreat to the past, and already we're seeing a claw-back. Women were underrepresented in the recently held Egyptian elections, while that same nation has witnessed brutal repression and humiliation of some women at the hands of security forces, guided by a transitional military council that to some observers seems intent on crushing the aims and spirit of the revolution.

Dr Laleh Khalili, a senior lecturer in Middle East politics at London's School of Oriental and African Studies, says that revolutions are often "fought over the terrain of women's bodies" because that's what ends up being a defining issue. "It tends to be the issue that is polarising in all contexts. It forces the different sides to clarify a position and is a distraction from other points of contention, because it's so emotive."

But Khalili also points out that, once women have tasted the power and the equality of a revolutionary time, there is no going back to old roles - it's a transformative experience. That's something reiterated by the activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkul Karman - dubbed the "Mother of Yemen's Revolution" - who says: "Women know and have practised something different now, so they will never go back. Past revolutions around the world have ignored women, but no - not this time."

http://www.thenational.ae/lifestyle/women-of-the-arab-spring-give-voice-to-their-hopes-and-aspirations