To me, Egypt is a wonderful history, a wonderful people, and it’s represented through artists like Om Kalthoum, who is considered the fourth pyramid of Egypt. She’s a wonderful diva whose voice, for me, is really Egyptian. Mona Eltahawy Read Quote
I can write about my culture and religion because I am a product of both. Even when I’m accused of giving ammunition to the Islamophobic right, in the struggle between ‘community’ and ‘women,’ I always choose the women. Mona Eltahawy Read Quote
I joke that one of the rare times Egyptians identify as African is when the national soccer squad is playing in the African Cup of Nations – and preferably winning it. Mona Eltahawy Read Quote
Anti-black racism is not just an Egyptian problem. It exists in many parts of the Arab world. Mona Eltahawy Read Quote
My feminism does not demand that a woman have an equal opportunity to torture, alongside men. Torture is no less wrong because a woman, not a man, carries it out. Mona Eltahawy Read Quote
I do not subscribe to a feminism that demands perfection or super heroic nobility of women. But I do insist that putting women at the service of patriarchy is no victory for us. Mona Eltahawy Read Quote
Some forms of veil are justified by the idea that you’re not tempting men. Well how about men just behaving and keeping their hands to yourselves? How about, instead of criticizing how I dress, respecting me and my right to the public space? Mona Eltahawy Read Quote
To say that there is patriarchy in Arab culture is not denying women agency. Mona Eltahawy Read Quote
