Connecting the many threads of Arab feminist political thought

For over a century in journalism, academic studies, fiction, and poetry, Arab feminists have critiqued the absence of gender justice in their societies. With each political development that impacts women’s rights, male and female feminists may respond and in so doing add threads to the tapestry of Arab feminist political thought. Despite the variety of Arab histories, cultural norms and values that would seem to preclude the possibility of homogenizing political theories and agendas, this chapter argues that there are ten major threads connecting Arab feminist thought. Four threads concern misogynistic interpretations of Islamic texts and the need for reform; two threads critique impunity for violence against women; two threads call for strategies to combat intersectional discriminations; one thread claims civic rewards for women’s activism; the last thread demands respect for women’s right to live as they wish.