Revolutionary Feminist: The Storm Begins With One Raindrop
Author and journalist Mona Eltahawy learned harrowing lessons about the role of women in revolution during the Arab Spring uprisings. She was physically and sexually assaulted by Egyptian riot police.
Eltahawy says she became “a proud, angry woman” because injustice demanded that of her. She calls herself an anarchist of the Emma Goldman School. She believes that shock and provocation are necessary to bring about change.
In this talk, Eltahawy makes reference to feminist concerns around the world. She explains why she believes revolutionary political change won’t happen until women enjoy equal rights.
But she isolates the struggle for change regionally. For instance, Eltahawy believes only Muslim women can bring change to Muslim countries. She argues that they alone can take apart their oppression “by state, street and home.”
Eltahawy is the author of “Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution.” She spoke at the Elliott Bay Book Company on May 21. Thanks to Anna Tatistcheff for our recording.
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John O'Brien
Producer
John O’Brien is a KUOW newsroom producer. He works with the Morning Edition and All Things Considered teams to schedule, record, and edit interviews and stories on a variety of topics, from politics and public health to arts and culture. He learned to make radio in 2006 as an intern on KUOW’s The Conversation and is a former host of KUOW's Speakers Forum.
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