Islam and Feminism- the Mona Eltahawy story

“I don’t believe in objectivity anymore,” said Mona Eltahawy bluntly to a question about her transition from a journalist to an activist.

Mona was a correspondent in the Middle East for The Guardian, Reuters and International Herald Tribune about ten years.

However the Egyptian native said her perception on her role as reporter took a shift in the aftermath of 9/11.

She felt that was an increase of bullying towards Muslims in the United States where she was also a citizen. It was partly due to the lack of diverse rays of opinions from Muslims.

“We always hear from very conservative Muslims and they have a certain kind of way in speaking out for Muslims. So I wanted a more liberal and progressive Muslim (viewpoint) and that is why I became an opinion writer as a way of adding my liberal and progressive views to the voices out there.”

Being the liberal that she was with striking red hair and a tattoo on her right arm, Mona certainly doesn’t fit the image of the typical Muslim women. But she fiercely fights for issues on women and Islam.

A Google search on Mona Eltahaway will lead people to her critical op-eds on Arab, women, Islam and human rights.

Mona’s transition was solidified after an incident on November 24, 2011 to a globally known activist.

She was in the thick of covering renewed protests at Tahrir square when she was arrested by Egyptian security forces. She was beaten, had both her arms broken and sexually assaulted.

When the attack took place, Mona already had a huge following on Twitter who were closely following her updates and on ground coverage of the uprising (which also made her an easy target, given her high profile)

So when her short tweet - ‘Beaten arrested in interior ministry’ - got out, #freemona, it spread like wildfire.

Using her body as the message, Mona fought harder to break the silence. She went on TV shows with her arms in cast to speak openly about the sexual assault she survived.

The impact was powerful and her message was clear. Sexual violence against women took place in the midst of the revolution and in her case it was state sponsored.

Some people lauded her braveness and strength but most criticised her for tarnishing the reputation of the ‘revolution’ and the ‘martyrs’ who sacrificed their lives in the protests.

The scathing remarks even came from women, which was not surprising in Egypt. Patriarchy is deeply entrenched in the community and when religion as well as culture is often used to shore up that sense of patriarchalism to deny women of their rights and voices.

In her sense, this was a different kind of revolution.

“‘There is a need for social and sexual revolution on Egypt. To fight for gender equity (of which the Muslim Brotherhood is suppressing) .”

The message is was brought to the Women Deliver Conference 2013 in Kuala Lumpur as she shares with us about the violence women still face in the Middle East. Mona, who is currently writing a book on feminism talks about how some of the most vocal opponents of her work are women themselves.

With the Muslim Brotherhood in power right now and pockets of protests still happening is Egypt, what’s next for Egypt?

Egypt has changed fundamentally. But remnants of Mubarak, she feels, still permeate in the everyday Egyptian life.

‘’ I think the revolution can unleash a lot of liberties and many people now are saying no. Many people are challenging all kinds of norm and cultural assumptions. Because I consider what we did was remove Mubarak from the presidential palace, but we still have Mubarak in our minds, Mubarak in our bedroom and Mubarak in the street. And we have to remove that Mubarak. We must have that revolution of the mind. Without that revolution of the mind, the political revolution will fail.’’

For Mona, the revolution travels with her. She is commuting back and forth between Egypt and the United States, whereby she is in the midst of a court case. She is charged for defacing an anti-Muslim poster in a subway in New York last year.

But for now, Egypt is where the heart is.

Cynthia Ng is a member of Astro AWANI’s pioneering mobile journalist (MOJO) team whereby the journalist gathers stories as a one person crew using mobile gadgets.