Women of MENA Vol. 1

SPRING 2022

VOLUME 1

C O R N E L L

WOMEN

AN INTRODUCTION TO WOMEN OF MENA Who we are, What we do, and our Goals

OF

MENA

IDENTITY Features series and our Discussion with Gizelle Begler

TAKING SHAPE: ABSTRACTION FROM THE ARAB WORLD Our Reflection on the Johnson Museum Exhibit

AINAV RABINOWITZ Founder and President

Government Major with Minors in Near Eastern Studies and Public Policy Minor // '23

SHANZAI IKHLAS

SIOBHAN DOWNEY

PRESLEY CHURCH

Government Major with Minors in Global Health Studies & Law and Society // '24

Government and History Major with Minors in Arabic and International Relations // '24

Fashion Design Major with a Minor in Climate Change // '24

LAILA RAHBARI

DUNIA MATTA

ELIZ CELIK

Industrial Labor Relations Major with a Minor in Near Eastern Studies // '25

Undecided // '25

Biomedical Engineering Major with a Minor in Near Eastern Studies // '25

Vice President

Managing Editor

Writer

Design Lead

Writer

Writer

MAYA DAW

FATIMA EL ASHRAM

Near Eastern Studies Major // '25

Interdisciplinary Studies (Finance and Communications) // '23

Writer

Designer

A LETTER FROM THE

LEADERSHIP TEAM

Dear Readers, Our publication group started because we noticed something missing on campus: a community dedicated to women from the Middle East and North Africa region.

Instead, we saw the constant discussion about MENA politics and conflict. We saw one narrative forming - a story seeping with assumptions and stereotypes. We saw a lack of focus on the actual people of the region.

But more than that, a lack of focus on culture, livelihood, and humanity.

Our team started off with conversations.

We sat around a table in Temple of Zeus and brainstormed, discussing both the personal and political. There was pure excitement about the potential for what we could become. We saw the potential to create a new community on Campus of students who feel connected to the region. We also discussed what ethical journalism meant to each of us, knowing that we must center the voices of women and know our place as students who are in many ways removed from the region itself. As we acknowledged our place as Cornell Students, we asked what should our role be? How can we push against the narrative of homogeneity of the region? How can we re-imagine the way media discusses MENA? But we also were eager to talk about the culture, religion, poetry, food, art, architecture, and music of the region. Many of us study these topics in Near Eastern Studies classes. We knew that we cannot understand politics

without understanding the nuances of the people who live in the region. And that is where the gap lies: how can US citizens understand the politics of MENA without engaging with the voices of people in the region, without exploring the cultural and religious nuances of both those living in the region and beyond?

Women of MENA is dedicated to inclusivity, both within our team, with the people we interview, and with the topics we discuss.

We are also dedicated to knowing that we have so much room to grow and learn. We know that with each article, we will be one step closer to breaking stereotypes and assumptions.

We have big dreams of how we will grow.

We imagine interviews with professors, students, authors, and creators across the world. We imagine starting up a podcast and producing mini-documentaries. We see a community of students on campus dedicated to this topic growing over the next few years. More importantly, we see those students venturing off into whatever career path they choose with the same values we are dedicated to at Women of MENA: journalism rooted in empathy and inclusivity.

Sincerely, Ainav, Shanzai, Presley, & Siobhan WWW.FRAMEMAG.COM | 20

WHO WE ARE

Women of MENA Spent Fall 2021 researching and planning who we are, what our goals are, and our values. Our dedication to this mission is rooted in our commitment to always learn more about the MENA region and revise accordingly.

Mission Statement: Women of MENA Spent Fall 2021 researching and planning who we are, what our goals are, and our values. Our dedication to this mission is rooted in our commitment to always learn more about the MENA region and revise accordingly.

WHAT WE DO

With a team of student writers, editors, and designers, we post articles on our website and across social media platforms. The articles are based on independent student research and interviews with students, journalists, researchers, and others connected to the MENA region. Our articles cover two main areas:

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Features that highlight the voices of students, artists, writers, scholars, entrepreneurs, creators, activists, and more through features and in-depth interviews.

Cultural analysis through a contemporary and historical lens. This includes research on literature, poetry, film, and art from the region, as well as an analysis of diverse ethnic, racial, and religious groups.

OUR GOALS

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Explore the nuances of the MENA region and offer an alternative to the typical narrative of war and conflict often presented in the US.

Provide writers with an opportunity to explore a wide range of topics and issues related to the MENA region, all while expanding their research and journalism skills.

Create a community for students at Cornell and across universities who are connected to the region and want to tell their stories.

Create an approachable and interactive platform students can engage with on social media and through our website to expand their knowledge of the MENA region.

OUR VALUES

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We recognize our place and privilege as women studying in a western institution.

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We give full agency to the women of the MENA region while also seeking to understand their individual experiences. Instead, we seek to create an understanding of what it means to be a woman in the middle east on Cornell’s campus, in the Western World, and in the region.

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We seek to combat misconceptions and show that the Middle East has deep cultural and historical nuances.

OUR VALUES

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We recognize that the study of gender is not an analytical lens that can just be employed and subsequently removed. Thus, our study of gender is not just about topics related to women and LGBTQ people because gender intersects across all areas of study. In other words, there is no such thing as “ungendered politics,” and our articles may touch on topics related to politics, economics, history, anthropology, etc.

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We recognize that LGBTQ movements and feminist movements in the MENA region are not “inherently allied,” and we aim to respect and engage in the nuances of gender in the MENA region and across various communities.

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We do not assume that feminist and gender concerns are the same across the MENA region.

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We are dedicated to expanding the idea of what “feminism” often means from the Western perspective. (Mikdashi 2012)

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We recognize the multi-dimensional religious landscape of the MENA region.

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We recognize and will explore the nuances and influence of colonialism and modernization and their effects on the conceptualization of gender rights in the MENA region.

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We are dedicated to exploring how gender studies might intersect with other important categories that shape identity in the MENA region, including but not limited to: citizenship rights (i.e. migrant/refugee status), ethnicity, class, sect, religion, and disability.

Citations: Pratt Geraldine and Victoria Rosner, “Introduction,” in The Global and the Intimate (Columbia University Press, 2012); Maya Mikdashi, “How Not to Study Gender in the Middle East,” Jadaliyya (blog), March 21, 2012, https://www.jadaliyya.com/Details/25434; Lila Abu-Lughod, “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? Anthropological Reflections on Cultural Relativism and Its Others,” September 2002.

WHAT DO WE MEAN WHEN WE SAY W O M E N

O F

M E N A ?

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F E A T U R E S

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IDENTITY AND FASHION WITH G I Z E L L E

B E G L E R

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STAFF PICKS T A K I N G

F R O M

S H A P E :

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A B S T R A C T I O N

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W O R L D

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WHAT DO WE MEAN WHEN WE SAY W O M E N

O F

M E N A ?

We began writing the following articles last semester as we were unraveling what “Women of MENA” means to us as an organization. In other words, what is our purpose? What does “MENA” mean? How can we understand what being a woman from MENA means?

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WE ARE NOT HERE TO BREAK DOWN THE

DATA: INTRODUCING WOMEN OF MENA

A brief introduction to why we exist, how we came about, and our commitment to changing the narrative - one article at a time.

By Ainav Rabinowitz

Some of my favorite memories involve my grandmother’s kibbeh. I can still see her sitting at the dining table – too old to stand up – and carefully placing the cooked meat into the bulgar wheat. I would then anxiously wait as we placed the kibbeh in the fridge for a few hours, all spaced out on a platter, before adding them to a rich onion-spiced soup.

How can someone exist as both invisible and hypervisible? It is too complicated of a question to answer in just one article. But perhaps - just maybe - an entire publication can help us get closer to not only answering that question but deconstructing the dichotomy of it.

A Quick Quiz

Stuffed grape leaves, kitchri, and Tbit.

Tahini with pita. Dried fruit with Turkish black coffee for dessert. These foods are not just a “Mediterranean diet” for me - they are my story. They represent the love for the women in my life who, in my eyes, created magic.

Try and answer the following questions.

As I began research for this publication, I came across this quote:

“WOMEN FROM THE PREDOMINANTLY MUSLIM MENA REGION EXIST IN A PARADOX OF INVISIBILITY AND HYPERVISIBILITY” - Angela S. Williams When I look back at the experiences of my Iraqi grandmother, I see that paradox of invisibility and hypervisibility; in many ways, the food she labored to create represents that paradox.

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1. What’s the first thing you think of when you think about the Middle East?

2. What’s the first thing you think of when you hear about women from the middle east?

3. What do you think are the top concerns for women in the region?

4. What does it mean to be LGBTQ+ in the MENA region?

5. Can you name five Middle-Eastern authors either living in the West or in the region itself?

6. Can you name five female artists or musicians from the MENA region?

Now, how many of these questions could you really answer? What assumptions came up in the process? If you are from the MENA region, how do you think your non-MENA peers might answer them? In what ways do you think your perspective on these questions has been shaped by living in the US?

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As you went down the list, perhaps you found it harder to answer. The first few questions might have brought up some general ideas you have heard from the media or from conversations.

The last three questions, perhaps, seem more insignificant - after all, shouldn’t we all be focusing on the issues of the region rather than the top artists? But here at Women of MENA, we actually see the latter as being one of the most significant ways to break down stereotypes and to change the common media narrative about the region. Let me explain.

Why Are We Here?

On December 16, 2021, the Congressional Research Service outlined and updated the top issues concerning Women in the MENA region (Danon and Collins 2021). The key issues included: unequal legal rights, contractions on economic participation and opportunity, underrepresentation in political processes, conflict and displacement, lack of representation in conflict resolution and peace negotiations, and attraction to radicalization and violent extremist groups.

According to the World Economic Forum’s 2021 Gender Gap Report, the MENA region is the “lowest in the world for achieved gender equality, with MENA states comprising 12 of the 25 worst-performing countries globally.”

The 2019 Arab Barometer report on women’s rights found that while the MENA public prefers greater female political participation, most still believe that men are better political leaders. In terms of social rights, 2019 saw a slight increase in the belief that university education is more important for men. Twothirds of Moroccans and half of Algerians say that it is “permissible” for women to travel alone, but this acceptance falls below 50% in all other countries. However, across the region, the belief that women and men have the same right to make the decision to divorce is rising.

Yet there is variety within the MENA region; in some countries, women have higher educational attainment than men. The gender gap for educational attaintment is also often higher for low-income girls - which is also the case in most Western countries. This gap is larger in rural areas and also depends on the specific field being studied. That is not to say that the data is wrong; it is just to provide more nuance to it.

There are a series of questions that arise from the above data - questions that scholars dedicate their lives attempting to answer.

Western media often perpetuates the oriental stereotypes and assumptions that can arise from such data. Most people, after all, depend on the media and do not have the time or patience to read books, articles, and research papers analyzing what all of “it” means.

At Women of MENA, we took a step back and thought, isn’t there enough out there attempting to explain this data? In fact, a lot of us here dedicate our undergraduate education to unpacking what these statistics mean. We read and analyze long, scholarly articles about the conflict in Iraq between Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds; issues between Muslims and Copts in Egypt; violence between Israelis and Palestinians.

But what if we shifted focus? What if instead of writing about women from the region, we engaged with the individuals who identify as woman, genderqueer, non-binary, and about the work they’re doing? What if, in order to change the narrative, we need to simply talk about art, culture, literature, film, WW W.FRAM E Mfood, AG.COM | 20 fashion, and music from the region - and the creators behind them?

Wondered about the latest female rapper in the Arab World? One of our writers will break down her latest music video and what the lyrics mean for women in the region at large.

Interested in hearing the story of a first or second-generation woman from the MENA region now at Cornell, and how her identity has informed her career? How about a

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breakdown of the top foods in Egypt, and where you can find them in New York? Or a review of the latest project produced by a Persian Cornell student?

WE ARE NOT HERE TO BREAK DOWN THE DATA FOR YOU. We are here to create a dialogue about a region that is misunderstood, essentialized, and labeled with stereotypes. By presenting you with authors, creators, and activists from the region across gender identities, and by providing a platform for women from the MENA region at Cornell, we discover the stories that are usually not told. We change the narrative, one article at a time.

Our content will be passionate and exciting.

It will also constantly evolve and be premised on the idea that the MENA region is not homogenous - and so we will never be.

Because we are dedicated to constantly asking questions, our next few articles will explore the themes discussed above: what it means to be a “woman” in the MENA region, how we define MENA, how to conceptualize the influence of colonialism on the region, and finally an introduction to LGBTQ+ identities in the region. These will serve as introductions to the complexity of what the term “Women of MENA” even means.

But this platform is more than just a publication. It is a community - one where students can explore an ethical form of journalism, delve into research that complements their studies, and creates space for representation.

Tune into our articles - and in the meantime, share your own story with us.

Citations: Kathrin Thomas, “Women’s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa,” Arab Barometer, August 2019 Zoe Danon and Sarah Collins, “Women in the Middle East and North Africa: Issues for Congress,” Congressional Research Service, December 16, 2021; Angela Williams, “Hip Hop Harem: Women, Rap and Representation in the Middle East” (Peter Lang Publishing, 2020); “Global Gender Gap Report,” World Economic Forum, March 2021.

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THE MIDDLE EAST, THE NEAR EAST,

MENA: TERMS INVENTED BY OUTSIDERS

By Laila Rahbari Here at Women of MENA, the term “MENA” denotes the Middle East and North Africa.

However, it took us a while to settle on using the term, since both the Middle East and North Africa represent vastly diverse regions of the world. MENA is defined differently across the globe, leading to not only confusion, but stereotypes.

To debunk the myths and assumptions surrounding the MENA region to the so-called Western world, we sat down in discussion with Professor Ross Brann of Cornell University. Along with formally serving as the Chair of the Department of Near Eastern Studies at Cornell for 19 years, Professor Brann is a published author and historian of religious and medieval studies. His published works include The Compunctious Poet: Cultural Ambiguity and Hebrew Poetry in Muslim Spain (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991) and Power in the Portrayal: Representations of Muslims and Jews in Islamic Spain (Princeton University Press, 2002). Professor Brann is also known for teaching courses such as History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Jews and the Classical Age of Islam, and Theory and Method in Near Eastern Studies.

Professor Brann and I discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the term the Middle East, the role of the western media in conceptualizing the term, the rich culture and history of the peoples of the region before the colonial powers defined it, and why Americans may perceive Afghanistan as a part of the Middle East.

What does the “Middle East” mean?

The "Middle East," the "Near East," even the

"Far East" are used to indicate the proximity of other regions of the world to Europe. Such terms were invented by the West and originally used in such languages spoken in the occident.

However, with time the terms created to identify such regions were adapted and used by the languages of the so-called Middle East, Near East, and MENA regions. It is important to note that the Middle East and Near East are synonymous, although the Near East is an older term than the Middle East.

According to Professor Brann, "The term 'the Middle East' has a history of its own. The term did not exist before the modern period. It's an invention of the West. The problem with [the term] historically is it's Eurocentric; it views the globe from the standpoint of Western Europe and then, by extension, the United States. ‘Middle’ to what? ‘Near’ to what? It's near Europe, and it's in the middle. It's between Europe and the Far East in that parlance. That's very problematic because it means that the construction of this part of the globe as a region, distinct from many other regions, is something that was imposed on it from the outside."

The problem is exacerbated when the terms the Middle East, Near East, and MENA are adapted by the region itself, as opposed to only being used in western media.

"The reason it's so difficult…to problematize [the term] and leave it behind is that the term the Middle East has entered into the languages of the region. In Persian, Arabic, Hebrew, and Turkish, this term exists and people, particularly educated people, and newspapers, use that term to refer to their region, even if they are educated, knowing full well that the name of the region came from outside it" said Professor Brann.

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As Michael Gasper argues in "Why Can't You Find the Middle East on a Map?", the Middle East is an "inescapable reality" for those living in the region, and in many ways, "they do not have the luxury to reject it” (Gasper 2020).

When the terms MENA, Middle East, and the Near East are translated and used in the media of the MENA region, Western generalizations about the MENA region are also slowly adopted by the people of the MENA region. These terms are inherently complicated. To help understand why they are used, Professor Brann and I explored some of the advantages and disadvantages of using them in the West.

Advantages and Disadvantages of using “MENA” Arguably, the use of the terms MENA, Middle East, and the Near East can be an advantage to both the region and the global community. As stated earlier, the terms have become part of the vocabulary of the MENA region. They are also widely accepted, allowing for an understanding and acceptance of the region globally. More importantly, the European Western influence in generalizing and naming the region serves as a reminder of the remaining Western colonial powers in the region and in the modern period. "​​I t can serve as a reminder of the fact that constituting it as a region in the modern world is the product of European Western interference in that part of the globe. It's not a bad thing to take note of that historical event," said Professor Brann.

Nevertheless, the foundation of the terms MENA, Middle East, and the Near East reflect Eurocentrism. The terms themselves constitute the proximity of the region to Europe or the West. Further, the terms generalize vastly diverse cultures into one term.

The terms also do not universally reflect the same geographic area. Depending on where you look, you’ll find different definitions. Per

the Office of the United States Trade Representative, MENA countries consist of “Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen." According to the World Bank, MENA includes the same countries except for Turkey and Israel and includes Djibouti. Other definitions include Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"There are all these new terms popping up that people in the West are still trying to use to attempt to describe the region, and it's interesting because nothing seems to fit," said Professor Brann.

Despite various attempts at definitions and the seeming importance of distinguishing the region, there is still confusion about what countries are and are not included. For example, the concept of the Greater Middle East, another term created by the West, is known to include Afghanistan and Pakistan. During the 9/11 era and the George W. Bush presidency, the Greater Middle East was often a term thrown around American politics in order to include Afghanistan. However, Afghanistan and Pakistan are both considered South Asia by the US trade representative.

This led to an association between the people of Afghanistan and terrorism. As Professor Brann explained, "although Afghans didn't participate in 9/11, it was staged or planned, let's say, from Afghan territory in the American consciousness, it's [perceived]... as part of this world that is scary and hostile…What is written on the map as well can always be an area of debate," said Professor Brann.

The “Greater Middle East” did not only expand the physical boundaries W W of W .the F R MENA A M E Mregion, A G . C but O M also | 20 the interpretation of what events or ideas people can associate with the region at large.

"To a lot of people in the United States, when they think about the Middle East, they think about oil… they think about the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians…[and] they think about Iranian hostility towards the United States," said Professor Brann.

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With the turn of the century, more than just the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, oil, and Iranian hostility, people in the US think of the 20 year-long war in Afghanistan and, more recently, of Biden's withdrawal.

Clearly, it is difficult to define an interpretation of a term when the interpretation does not have historical backing or academic foundation.

Such misinterpretations are exacerbated by western media, who often use the ideas and presumptions about the region to define the MENA, Near East, and Middle East territory.

This leads to stereotypes and false homogeny of the region, which often overshadows the diversity across countries and cultures.

“The Islamic world is very diverse. It's always been diverse. There are lots of currents in Islamic history and Islamic culture that market. So although, say, people in Morocco share a religion and culture and history with people in Afghanistan, there's also specific things about Islam in Morocco, and Moroccan culture that differs from Islam in Afghanistan and Afghan culture ” said Professor Brann.

Concluding Thoughts The role of the media in conceptualizing the terms the Middle East continues to bleed into American politics today. Despite the continued conversations over the origins of the following terms, such discussions often take place in the West through the voices of those attending a western academic institution.

"It's not just what I may think, or maybe what faculty here think; it also matters what the people of the actual region think as well.

And it displays through the fact that now… the terms are being translated into other languages," said Professor Brann.

The role European powers have had in

defining the MENA region exemplifies the long journey the world has to fight modern colonial powers and celebrate the diversity of cultures. Our publication is dedicated to exploring these complex questions and creating an open dialogue between students and Professors at Cornell with people from the region. While we use the term MENA, we recognize both the advantages and disadvantages of the term, and we are dedicated to exploring that nuance. Change cannot happen without us - students who have the privilege of studying at an institution like Cornell - questioning the terms we have been taught to use. With this in mind, I will leave off with another quote

by Gasper:

"IN AN ANALOGOUS WAY TO HOW SOME STUDY HISTORY WITH THE EXPECTATION OF LEARNING ABOUT THE PAST IN ORDER TO CHANGE THE FUTURE, PERHAPS WE CAN STUDY THE MIDDLE EAST WITH THE HOPE OF IMAGINING A DIFFERENT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PEOPLES OF THE REGION AND THE W W WEST." W.FRAMEMAG.COM - Michael Gasper

Citations: “Middle East/North Africa (MENA),” in Office of the United States Trade Representative, n.d., https://ustr.gov/countriesregions/europe-middle-east/middleeast/north-africa; Michael Gasper, “Why Can’t You Find the Middle East on a Map?,” in Understanding and Teaching the Modern Middle East (University of Wisconsin Press, 2020).

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REIMAGINING THE MAP OF MENA WITH CHAI

By Shanzai Ikhlas controls are most severely deployed by those Western regimes that create mass displacement, and are most severely deployed against those whose very recourse to migration results from the ravages of capital and military occupations. We are all, therefore, simultaneously separated by and bound together by the violences of border imperialism” (Walia 2019, 9).

Chai is the Hindi word for tea. When I refer to Chai, I am not talking about the “Chai tea” that you find at your local American cafe filled with cinnamon, syrup, and sugar.

The authentic milky drink is a mix of herbs and spices boiled to perfection. Chai unifies South Asia with its neighbors in the North and the West. Whenever I visit my family in Pakistan, I am relentlessly tormented for my lack of knowledge on how to make Chai (they are joking… I think).

And yes when people order Chai tea at their Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts they are in fact ordering tea tea.

But Chai is not the only factor that brings together these countries. People from South Asian and the Middle East are united by the years of torment they have faced by their European colonizers, their laws which have a heavy Islamic influence, and by the imposition of borders.

By nature, borders create division. They allow for nationalism to prosper. Borders place more value on being a citizen, criminalize those who are undocumented immigrants or are simply trying to cross a border, and lead to exploitation of migrant labor. In support of this ideology, Walia states in his book Undoing Border Imperialism, “Borders

As a result, Middle Eastern North African countries should be looked at from a borderless perspective. The term borderless forces us to push beyond the boundaries that we as humans have defined and created for ourselves. The term encourages us to see the connections between racism, borders, colonialism, movement, and globalism.

Our understanding of MENA is always adapting and changing. The definition depends on the features one chooses to emphasize, or the given country the world seems to be focused on at any given time. Sometimes we include a country and sometimes we leave them out. For example, Pakistan has suffered an identity crisis throughout the years, sometimes labeled as part of the Middle East, or just a sector of the Indian Subcontinent. Instead of focusing on a set of countries, we should be focusing on the similarities and differences the region shares, both within and across the borders. Because that region as a whole has gone through shared WW W.FRAM MAG . C O one M | 20 experiences - the embracing ofEChai being example. This will lead to a better understanding and a new perspective of the people and its land as a whole.

The subcontinent of India was colonized by the British who used the land for the country's natural resources. Eventually, the British left, leaving a fractured land of Muslims and Hindus to fight among themselves. The British also left remains of

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their identity which continues to influence current day Pakistan and India.

The British love tea. This has remained one of their distinguishing features. When they left, they ignited a passion and love for tea among the Indian people who made it their own. Instead of the bitter tea that the British and many western countries hold dear, India took its own spin, adding masala, spices, and sugar. Originating from India, the love of Chai spread across the Middle East, each country adapting the tea to its own taste.

In Turkey, they serve Cay, a black tea served in a tulip shaped glass. Loomi, a lime herbal tea, is traditional to Iraq, Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab Emirates. And in Palestine, the locals drink Shay bil Maramiya, a type of black tea. Now families take time out of their busy schedules to drink Chai with one another, sometimes 5 to 6 times a day. Regardless of the amount of work that needs to be done, this tea brings together families from all walks of life. Tea not only connects families but it connects women and daughters from different regions. Tea Times Tale, for example, is a women led group in Italy where they drink chai and tell stories of their descents and cultures. Eritrean refugees host these meetings in an attempt to create a community in a foreign place. Tea acts as a bridge between the political situations surrounding people, and allows these women to gain a sense of home.

Among families and borders, Chai has become a unifier, a shared experience representing love, growth and a multitude of cultures.

Here at Women of MENA, we hold our Chai, or any type of tea, and discuss these topics.

We recognize the imposed borders of the region as well as the imposition of the word MENA itself, as discussed in our previous article.

We also recognize the cross-cultural connections between countries near the MENA region and the historical connections and differences that arise between them. So here I am, a Pakistani woman, next to an Iranian-American, and Iraqi-American, an Israeli-American, an Irish-American, a Lebanese-American, and we are all recognizing the way our histories reflect ideologies and connections that go beyond a few lines on a map.

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Citations: Stegania D’lgnoti, “Women’s Group in Sicily Uses Traditions of Coffee and Tea to Brew Unity amid Migrant Crisis,” NBC News, October 5, 2019; Walia Harsha, “Undoing Border Imperialism” (Oakland, CA ; Edinburgh : AK Press ; Washington, D.C. Institute for Anarchist Studies, 2013).

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UBIQUITOUS PARADIGMS: THE ‘RESCUE

NARRATIVE’ AND ORIENTALISM

By C. Siobhan Downey You've read an article from the New York Times - say a piece about the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, or one about the quality of life for women in Saudi Arabia.

Curious, you decide to search 'women in the middle east.' Countless stories begin to appear about the dangerous and terrifying lives women in the region face.

While it is true that women in MENA face unique threats and there is undoubtedly cause for concern, women from the Middle East and North Africa are more than the fears they face. The narrative of “weak and vulnerable” MENA women that need saving by the West undermines the role of these women and also vastly oversimplifies a diverse region of the world. Western media has perpetuated two tropes of MENA women: either the 'mediadarling' or the victim (Muhasteb 2020). The “media darling” comes in the form of a Western-educated Arab or Muslim woman or follows Western standards for women. These women are seen as the outliers to the gender 'oppressive' Arab culture trope emboldened

by Western media. The alternative trope is the countless unnamed women victims of the 'oppressive' culture. When this trope is employed, it is rare for press to interview or speak with a woman from the region. So how can we get the public to see past this binary?

We turned to Professor Alexandra Blackman, a Cornell Government professor in comparative politics, to answer this question.

She focuses on the role of women in politics throughout the Middle East and North Africa Region. In her mind, the most straightforward way to see past Western media paradigms is to examine MENA women through a comparative mindset and centre their voices in the narrative.

While maintaining that “sociopolitical trends never affect women in the same way", Blackman explains that there is also a racial aspect of why Western and MENA women are represented so differently. This dynamic between gender, race, and representation can best be understood through orientalism. This concept is crucial to understanding the Middle East and North Africa, says Professor Blackman, as it explains how 'former' colonisers now treat those they colonised through a contemporary lens. It can best be understood upon reading Edward Said's 1978 book Orientalism, in which he coined the eponymous term and defined it.

Orientalism denotes and emboldens the difference between the West and the East, emphasises western supremacy, and perpetuates a stereotypical analysis of 'the east'. Said seeks to break down and examine this antiquated trope of "east is east and west is west, and never twain shall meet" from Rudyard Kipling. Said breaks orientalism into three distinct but intertwined meanings: academic tradition, worldview/trope, and powerful political implications.

In his own words, "the style of thought based upon an ontological and epistemological distinction made between 'the Orient' (the East) and 'the Occident' (the West)" or stereotypes present in media tropes are based upon outdated assumptions W ofW the W differences . F R A M E M between A G . C O Mthe | two 20 realms (Said 1978, 38). This narrative becomes noxious, especially in academic and political spheres where the cycle repeats itself as a new generation is indoctrinated into this toxic psychology and where major political decisions are made to the detriment of the region. Such as the US decision and excuse for the invasion of Iraq

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is the 'treatment of women'. Professor Blackman cites how this narrative has shaped academia, media, and political spheres. As she says, "Muslim women can be stereotyped to achieve certain political goals…a lot of the language around the invasion of Afghanistan or US policy and other Middle Eastern countries emphasises the liberation of women. It uses that to justify the political actions or US foreign policy. So I think there's a way in which these cultural stereotypes are used to promote certain political ends." One example of this narrative can be seen in the US Congressional Research Service' Women in the Middle East and North Africa', which only displays alarming one-sided statistics.

In light of Blackman’s perspective, the first thing to be done is to represent the region comparatively. Specifically, the CRS paper cites how the World Economic Forum's 2020 Global Gender Gap Report 'ranked the Arab states of the MENA region the lowest in the world for achieving gender equality, with MENA states comprising 13 of the 25 worst-performing countries globally'. This one-sided picture leaves out the literacy of adult women in Saudi Arabia, which is 96%, higher than the global average of 88%.

Additionally, the rate of female political participation in the US and Canada is in the same bracket as Algeria and Egypt. As shown on the map below, the statistics from UN Women in 2021 make it clear that there are by no means any regional trends. Japan, a highly progressive and advanced country, is in the same participation bracket as Iran, a country often labelled as “backwards.”

The second necessary step is centering women's voices in the narrative. For this exact reason, the mission of our publication is to provide an approachable community and platform for Cornell students and people across universities to explore a more nuanced take on the MENA region, one that offers more than a 'rescue narrative' and an orientalist trope. Our goal is to write 'features that highlight students, artists, writers, scholars, entrepreneurs, creators, activists, and more'. We also want to emphasize the importance of demonstrating how crucial women's voices, especially MENA women's voices, are to academic, political, and worldview spheres.

For many Western media consumers, the best visual symbol of the Middle East and North Africa's oppressive' culture is Muslim women's head coverings, such as the hijab.

There are more than fourteen types of Muslim women's head coverings, including the hijab, burka, niqab, and chador. But head coverings are by no means a solely Muslim phenomenon. Many other religions and cultures also have head coverings for women. Such as Catholic Nuns wearing a habit, Amish wearing hats and bonnets, Orthodox Jewish women wearing headscarves, Eastern Orthodox Christian women wearing headscarves, and many more. Despite the commonality of headscarves, Muslim women are targeted and labeled 'victims of an oppressive religion and society.' Upon bringing up this dynamic with Professor Blackman, she pointed out how the hijab is very freeing for many Muslim women and can symbolize their independence.

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She gave two key reasons: 'a hijab can facilitate ease of movement for women in public' and is often a 'symbol of revolt' for Muslim women as hijab challenges domineering Western ideals and standards.

The views and opinions of Muslim women are easily bogged down in media by releases about the French policy of laïcte and images of Iranian women before and after the revolution.

When shown the famous images of Iranian women before and after the revolution and asked how she would respond, Professor Blackman cleverly points out how a photo is just a snapshot in time. There is no context, no interview with the person in the picture; there is just the image and our assumptions which arise from it. Politicians' exploitation of such photos for political gain, media sources for increased attention, and more results in a toxic misguided narrative.

The radical French secular concept arose initially in response to Catholic and Protestant conflict before and after the French Revolution. At the time, religion was also closely tied to the monarchy by divine right. To strictly break down and separate the French people and the monarchy, the revolutionaries instituted a policy of laïcte.

As it stands today, laïcte seeks to combat Islam, especially the rise of radical Islamism and terrorism. The French President Macron said, "Islam as a religion is in crisis worldwide", a statement met with a furious response from Middle East states and Muslims worldwide (Lester 2020). Macron's misguided announcement represents that ISIS is a part of Islam rather than an outside entity. The best way to see the distinction is by saying ISIS is to Islam as the KKK is to Christianity, in religious terms, or as Hitler is to Germans, Neo/Nazisim is to white people, etc. There are countless associations to be made, and they are critical to understand and keep in mind. It is also important to note that despite Macron increasing the reach of laïcte, terrorist attacks have not stopped. The attacks have on mass increased since 2010.

Furthermore, Macron's policies have reduced female school enrollment and increased ISIS recruitment. Contemporary laïcte has given youths reason to join the extremists as they see how they and their religion aren't acceptable in France. Hence, they turn to extremist groups for a sense of community and acceptance, which they aren't shown. It is similar to gang recruitment in America, where youths in broken and impoverished neighborhoods seek out family, money, and power and find it easily in gangs. Macron and France represent a terrifying example of just how damaging orientalism can be, as the President, who has the power to enact policy and law, is encouraging a racist misguided narrative resulting in the opposite of the intended effect.

Professor Blackman highlights the capacity of orientalist tropes to cause long-term damage, whether in the form of increased violence, loss of life, loss of freedom, and more. Therefore it is critical to educate, keep an open mind, remain skeptical, and be curious about the media you consume, the stories you're told, and the policies you support. Unfortunately, subversive orientalist narratives lurk beneath many titles, debates, and more. Our intent is to combat these tropes, one article at a time.

Citations: Zoe Danon and Sarah Collins, “Women in the Middle East and North Africa: Issues for Congress” (Congressional Research Service, December 16, 2021), https://sgp.fas.org/crs/mideast/R46423.pdf; Ahlam Muhtaseb, “US Media Darlings: Arab and Muslim Women Activists, Exceptionalism and the ‘Rescue Narrative,’” Arab Studies Quarterly, January 1, 2020; Daisy Lester, “President Macron Says Islam ‘in Crisis All over the World’, Prompting Backlash,” Independent, October 2, 2020; Edward Said, “Orientalism” (Pantheon Books, 1978); “One in Five Ministers Is a Woman According to New IPU/UN Women Map” (InterParliamentary Union, n.d.); “Literacy Rate, Adult Female (% of Females Ages 15 and Above)” (The World Bank, September 2021); “In the President’s Words: The Rights and Aspirations of the Iraqi People,” July 9, 2004; “14 Different Types of Head Coverings Worn by Muslim Women,” Fashionhance (blog), n.d.

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WOMEN OF MENA F E A T U R E S

Our second set of articles includes interviews of women at Cornell connected to the MENA region, both within and outside our team. These articles are meant to center the voices of women from the region and allow women at Cornell to share their stories.

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LAILA RAHBARI ON HER IRANIAN-

AMERICAN IDENTITY, FEMALE ROLE

MODELS, AND MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT THE

MIDDLE EAST

At Women of MENA our staff have many stories of their own to tell. Here we have sat down with one of our writers, Laila Rahbari, to talk about her experiences as an Iranian-American. Laila is a freshman studying ILR with a minor in Near Eastern Studies. Despite growing up in the United States, she is originally from Iran and discusses how her upbringing has impacted her life and inspired her to work with Women of MENA.

Tell me about your family. When did they move from Iran to the US? I am a second-generation American. I was born and raised in the United States, but my parents were raised in Tehran, Iran. My parents immigrated from Iran to the United States under political refugee status.

Laila's Mom, pre-revolution, reading Tin Tin

This is a big question, but what was it like growing up as a second-generation American?

What parts of growing up in the US with an Iranian background have influenced your perspective?

This is something I’ve thought a lot about given the overly politicized tensions between

the US and the Middle East from 2016 to 2020.

To start, being a second-generation American— and I’m sure others share this experience— there is definitely a tough line to walk with not being American enough and not being, in my case, Iranian enough. Our families worked enormously hard to move to a new place to start a better life, and because of that there are always internalized challenges faced with belonging.

Generally speaking, growing up with the Iranian and Middle Eastern cultures has impacted me significantly today. I have an enormous appreciation for the diverse cultures and religions of the US as I share my own with others. After listening to an American president threaten to send missiles to 52 of my country’s heritage sites, I have learned to appreciate other cultures and not generalize and stereotype groups of people out of racist and false sentiments. After Iranians were targeted during the American Muslim ban, I learned that politics could be greatly flawed. At 13, I thought, “why can’t I go home and see my family…why is Iran being targeted.”

Thank you for that answer. Kind of related is, what are some misconceptions you think people have about Iran, or specifically about being a woman from Iran?

I think that there is an overall misconception in the way women of the MENA region are

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portrayed. Often women are seen as needing to be saved, and I don’t think that is the case.

There are so many strong and powerful women in the Middle East and Iran that are not acknowledged. A good example of this would be all of the women that fled Iran in 1979 with their children as their husbands and sons stayed to meet the military laws required for drafting and service.

There are a plethora of other misconceptions about women from the Middle East, let alone Iran. By addressing and naming some of the misconceptions, many of them racist and false, I am contributing to the spread of misinformation. As people, I think we see others from a foreign place as different. Just because someone may look different than you, speak a different language, or practice a different religion, does not mean that they are human beings and should be treated with respect.

When it comes down to it, we all want the same thing: a happy and prosperous life.

Who were some of your role models growing up? And why were they your role models?

One of my biggest role models growing up is Representative Anna Eskamani. I never thought that a young Iranian-American woman would be able to become a politician in the United States. This was something I didn't see possible despite my interests in politics. I mean, we haven't even had a female president yet, so I didn't see this as a logical option. However, when I met Anna at an Iranian New Years' party, Norwooz, I was astonished. Here was this 28-year-old Ph.D. student talking about running for office. I worked as a volunteer on her campaign and eventually as an intern in her office as she won and flipped a district from its 4-year incumbent.

Laila’s grandmother in her art exhibition, pre-the 1979 revolution

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Turning towards the role models in your family, how do you think the lives and experiences of your mother, grandmother, or other female figures influence you today?

After the Iranian revolution of 1979, my family decided to flee the country for safety reasons. They also wanted their freedom of religion as women would be forced to wear hijabs and practice Islam to some extent. So my grandmother took my mom and aunt and fled to Greece. They left one week before the airports closed. They had one suitcase between the three of them. Once they got to the airport, the suitcase was confiscated.

They truly had nothing besides each other at that point. From there, they arrived in Athens, Greece. My mom, 12 at the time, didn’t speak a word of Greek. They were there under refugee status, and my mom and aunt quickly got jobs, working as much as they could. Busboy. Waitress. You name it. The pair

promptly learned Greek, but my grandmother didn’t and could not work, leaving my mom and aunt responsible as young teenagers to support themselves. After three years, they received a visa to come to the United States.

They settled in Florida. Ten years later, my parents met, and my brother and I were born.

My dad has a similar story, as do so many other Iranians that fled in the 80s. They sacrificed everything for their children. The stories of the female figures in my life influence me today in knowing that I should believe in myself and strive to achieve anything I put my mind to. Women do the impossible every single day and I see that with the women in my family. Because of them, I know I can do anything despite the barriers I face.

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Are there any key memories that stand out to you from growing up? What memories influence the way you act, and the choices you make today?

I remember being told not to share where I am from and keep it to myself. I went to a catholic elementary school, and I used to ask my mom, “Mommy, mommy, what are we?” and she would always say, “we are good people,” in response to me questioning our religion. She thought that not telling those around us where we were from and associating our faith to the Middle East would harm us somehow. I understand what she did was to protect us. Still, those memories influence me today as they have taught me to be unapologetically myself and embrace where I came from rather than trying to hide it in the heat of the early 2000s.

Does your culture's food, and music influence you in any way?

One thing that is particularly interesting about Iran is that there is a cultural divide from the early 1980s to now. After the revolution of 1979, all music was banned.

Many artists and intellectuals fled the country, changing the pop culture of Iran.

Thus, most of the food and culture that I have known and loved about Iran are from pre1980s cultural practices. The only Persian music played in my house growing up was Googoosh, a 1970s Madonna so to say of Iran.

Persian cooking is notorious for garlic and rice so in that respect I am a garlic lover and a rice lover.

How do you think the childhood experiences you discussed earlier, or in general the fact that Iran will always be part of you, influences you today? How does it influence your life at Cornell?

The fact that Iran will always be a part of me

influences me today in the way I appreciate, love, and accept immigrants to the United States. The relations between the US and Iran have always been rocky, and I am grateful to be a born American citizen. As much as I love and am proud of my culture, the same appreciation I have is not shared by many other Americans.

Because of this, I have learned to love and appreciate immigrants and people of different cultures even more as generalizations and stereotypes of immigrants often run false and place a negative spin on the beautiful and rich culture of many American immigrants.

Regarding my life at Cornell, I have taken it upon myself to engage in all things Persian. I am a member of the PSO (Persian student organization), and I take both a language and history class on Iran. I take both Persian/Farsi and State and Society in Modern Iran through literature and film. I love to embrace my culture on campus and am eager to learn more through the resources that Cornell offers.

Thank you for sharing that. Last question: how do you think Women of MENA plays a part in your story?

On arriving at Cornell and meeting Ainav (our founder) I realized that Women of MENA was a publication that many of us MENA women were missing in our lives.

Even living in America, my 12 year old self needed to hear the stories of my sisters and the experiences they felt. Rather than reading news articles about the 2017 Musilm Ban, let’s say, I needed to know that there is a community of women with me that face the same experiences as I do. Women of MENA is a community of strong, intelligent, and outspoken women that I didn’t know I needed until I found myself in the middle of it and I could never be more grateful for it.

Citations: “Trump under Fire for Threat to Iranian Cultural Sites,” BBC News, January 6, 2020; “Meet the Three Orlando-Area Women Who Flipped Florida House Seats Blue,” n.d.; Ryan Gillespie, “Meet the Three Orlando-Area Women Who Flipped Florida House Seats Blue,” Orlando Sentinel, November 29, 2018; “Googoosh: The Most Celebrated Iranian Pop Artist of All Times,” Iran Chamber Society, n.d.

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I AM PROUD OF BEING BROWN: AN

INTERVIEW WITH SHANZAI IKHLAS ON

RACE, THE MIDDLE EAST, AND HER

PAKISTANI-AMERICAN IDENTITY

At Women of MENA our staff have many stories of their own to tell. We sat down with Shanzai Ikhlas, our Managing Editor, to discuss her experiences as a Pakistani-American, as a woman of color, and her thoughts about the “is Pakistan part of the Middle East” debate

Can you tell us about your relationship to Pakistan?

I am first generation Pakistani-American Muslim. Growing up, I was raised with both American and Pakistani culture. This has influenced my morals, religion, beliefs and understanding of life. My parents immigrated from Pakistan as young adults and eventually settled in Boston. Specifically, my mother did not want to settle in the United States. But when she found out that she was pregnant, she decided to create a life in America, so that my sister and I could get the best education possible.

What was it like growing up as a first-generation PakistaniAmerican? How has your culture influenced your upbringing?

Growing up in a non diverse school system, no one understood my Pakistani heritage, culture or Islamic related beliefs. I would have to explain to my classmates every single aspect, so that they would get some-sort of understanding. Because of this, I heavily identify with my Pakistani origin. It is a big part of who I am today. I grew up eating chicken biryani with raita and spending my weekends watching Bollywood hits with my family. On holidays we would dress up in our shalwar kameez and join our friends and family in celebration. The culture tends to be different then the American culture surrounding me, but I have kept in touch with hy heritage in the years that have passed.

Can you tell me more about how your childhood and growing up with a Pakistani identity has influenced you today at Cornell and more broadly?

Shanzai's Family

I want to study culture and the concept of diversity more because I understand how it

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feels for that aspect of your life to be misunderstood or ostracized by your peers.

As a Government Major, I focus on international relations, how countries interact with one another, and global health.

In the future, I want to get a PHD in international relations, join the Peace Corp, work with an NGO or WHO, become a Diplomat, and travel the world. My heritage and background has influenced the need to be exposed to many countries and their people.

Thanks for sharing that. Who were some of your role models growing up, both within and outside your family?

All parents want their children to succeed in life. South Asian parents are included in this statement, but they see very limited options as to how one can succeed. This usually included becoming a doctor, engineer, or lawyer. Growing up, I have always loved politics, but it is more acceptable in our family to study medicine. For years, I suffered through a mental dilemma trying to decide whether I should fall into society's pressure or do what I love. One day I was scrolling through netflix and I saw the show Patriot Act. As I watched the show I fell in love. I loved the way Hasan Minhaj would talk about the world's problems, but with a smile on his face. Hasan Minhaj became a role model for me and is one of the reasons I study government today.

Can you tell me more about the female figures in your life and how they have influenced you?

I have realized that my mother has become my motivation to succeed in life. My mother left her family, so that I could live what she deemed as a better life. This is the ultimate sacrifice for your kid. Because of her, I try my best to make the most of my education, and to ultimately succeed in my career.

My twin sister, Anooshey is another reason why I was able to succeed in life and make it

to such an esteemed university. Her hardwork and effort motivated me to be a better student and human being.

Thank you for sharing that…I wanted to shift gears now and ask you more about a question that might be surfacing the minds of our readers. I am sure you are aware that Pakistan is actually included as part of the Middle East by some scholars, while others see it as part of South Asia. That being said, do you consider Pakistan a part of the Middle East?

I do not believe that Pakistan is a part of the Middle East. To me Pakistan is a part of the Indian Subcontinent. As I have written in my previous articles, the British colonized India, which at the time also included Pakistan. This led to the eventual splitting of the region, creating present day Pakistan and India.

Additionally, for my entire life, I have considered myself as part of the Pakistani, South Asian and Asian community, but never Middleastern. A large part of that is because that is what I have been told. So now it's hard to put another label on myself that I never really had to identify with before.

That makes a lot of sense. Has anyone ever called you or have asked you if you were MiddleEastern?

It is pretty common for people to assume or ask if I am a part of the Middle East. Not because I label myself as Pakistani, but because I am of a lighter skin tone than what is associated with Pakistan. Pakistanis come in all shapes, colors and sizes. They can be super light or super dark, yet for some reason the typical Pakistani in the eyes of others are tan.

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Thanks for sharing that…I guess a related question is, when do you think you become aware of race?

I had been aware of race from a young age but that association typically came from African Americans being labeled as “black.”I never really put a race to myself until 8th grade. I didn’t know that Pakistanis were considered Brown. At first it weirded me out, but eventually I made it a part of how I identify and now I am proud of being brown.

But I am not white. I do not have the privileges that come for a white woman and being perceived as white. I have looked different from my non-diverse classmates since day one.

What also made me more aware of the Middle Eastern vs. South Asian identity was when I looked at the US Census - or really any demographic question on a form - and I saw that there was no option for “Arab” or “Middle Eastern.” People from that region would be put “white,” or maybe “other.”

That is of course not the case, and there are various forms of colorism in the Middle East

Painting by Shanzai, Photograph of her Painting from the Cornell Chronicle

and to place Middle Easterns on the equal level as white Americans is a whole discussion in itself. But I realized then that I couldn’t be part of the Middle East because I was not white. To call myself Middleeastern, for me takes away all the struggles I have gone through because of where my parents were born and how we were perceived.

Now one last question for you is: how do you think Women of MENA plays a part in your story?

Women of MENA is a channel where I can put my energy and time into something that is positive. Awareness about diversity and culture is so important to me and that is exactly what we are spreading with this publication group. Additionally, the people of MENA have always piqued my interest, so having the ability to learn about them and the way each country interacts with one another is a very special opportunity. I truly love being a part of this group. It has changed my perspective, the way I write and the way I think.

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A LOVE LETTER TO THE WOMEN IN MY LIFE

By Dunia Matta

Pictured above is my grandmother Nadra, my aunt Sita, and my mother Baidaa. These amazing female figures in my life, who you will get to know very soon, influence me to be as successful and independent as I can be. I would not be sitting at my desk at Cornell writing this if it was not for my family. My mother did everything she could to make sure my sisters and I had everything we needed, so the least I can do is share her story with you.

Leaving Iraq at the age of three, and then Syria at six years old, I don’t remember much from my time in the Middle East.

Thankfully, I have my grandmother, Nadra, to tell me all types of stories. There is one story my grandmother always brings up: from the moment I could walk I would strip and run out the door completely naked and everyone in the house would chase after me.

To this day, that story is brought up at every family

gathering and always leaves everyone laughing. However, my proudest moment- one that my grandma does not let me forget - is how I started walking, even up the stairs, at only 11 months old; earlier than my two older sisters.

My mother would always talk about the first time she took me and my sisters to the zoo and how excited we were. It was on Easter and after a whole day of celebrating, we ended the day with a visit to the animal zoo.

My mom saw how much my sisters and I loved seeing all the animals, especially the monkeys, and from that moment on the zoo became a family tradition.

However, my time in the Middle East wasn’t always filled with laughter and joy. The older I became, the more I was taught about the struggles my family, especially my mother, went through.

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The war is part of our story My family is from Baghdad, Iraq. My mother, along with my grandmother, grew up in Baghdad and my sisters and I were all born there. Before heading to the United States, we first moved to Syria where we lived for about three years until we were able to immigrate into the United States as refugees.

I always knew that my family had endured a great deal of trauma in Iraq, but it was heart wrenching when my grandmother told me the struggles my mother went through to make sure her baby girls were taken care of.

It is insane knowing that my family went through events that we often think only occured in the 20th century or earlier, but were in fact occurring about 18 years ago in the suburbs of Baghdad, Iraq. My mother tells stories of us hiding in a basement and covering the crack under the door with towels to keep out the smoke that was coming from the war happening right outside our door. I was a newborn baby then and everyone was worried I wouldn’t make it. But I am not here to tell the story of how we survived the war; but rather to highlight the bravest and strongest women in my life. Nonetheless, the war is part of our story.

My mother was part of an arranged marriage, something that is still relevant in some Arab countries today. She didn’t have the chance to marry for love, and for giving that up in order to devote herself to her family, I thank her everyday. Not only did she give up marrying for love, but she also gave up what she loved most: painting. My mother attended art school in Iraq, but lost all her achievements and certificates during the war and moving process. She had to start over when she came to the US and didn’t have the time to continue painting because she was raising three girls on her own.

From working three jobs to squeezing in time to learn English, my mother always found ways to be there for her daughters. When I would start to mumble English words in place of Arabic words I couldn’t remember, my

my mother would be there to help me so I wouldn’t forget how to speak my native language. No matter what, she was always there when my sisters and I needed her. Not only was my mom working nonstop to support us, she was also devoting time for the citizenship test. In the first few years that we lived in the US, my mother became fluent in English, learned how to drive, and became a US citizen. I cannot be more proud to call Baidaa my mother because of everything she did for my sisters and I. Moving over 7000 miles and leaving her family behind, my mother didn’t know when she would see the rest of our family again.

Luckily, my aunt and her family immigrated to the United States with my grandmother a few months after we made it here. They moved to the opposite side of the country from my hometown in Arizona, so it has been difficult to visit often. On Nov. 25th, 2021, my mother was reunited with her sister after about 12 years. The look on my grandma’s face when she saw both of her daughters together was one I will never forget. The resilience my family had to go through is imprinted on me and I am thankful to have role models such as them to look up to.

I love you, always.

I grew up in the United States, but this history and the obstacles my family has had to overcome shaped who I am today. The obstacles and hardship have connected me more to my heritage and made me appreciate where I come from and everything my family has done to get us to this point.

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Attending one of the most prestigious colleges in the US was something that never crossed my mind. However, here I am using this opportunity to the highest extent; I never learned how to read or write in Arabic, but I have taken the opportunity to learn Arabic at Cornell. Not only has Cornell offered me a variety of classes, but it has also introduced me to many organizations, including Women of MENA, that will benefit me for the rest of my life.

My mother made it through a war with three children by her side; not knowing a word in English or if we would even make it, she took a long shot to give us a better life and future. Now she gets to see her daughters attend Arizona State University, Harvard, and Cornell, to become the best versions of themselves.

So here’s a final word, but directly to my mom: You are the most selfless woman I know and who I envision to be when I am older. You have made me the independent and brave young woman I am today and I could not have asked for a better mother or family. Raising three children all by yourself is not easy, but you did it. Your love and devotion to our family has not gone unseen and will forever be appreciated. I love you, always.

Dunia, Maryam, Mirna

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MAYA DAW ON HER LEBANESE HERITAGE,

GROWING UP IN THE U.S., AND HER PASSION

FOR NEAR EASTERN AFFAIRS

At Women of MENA our staff have many stories of their own to tell. Here we have sat down with one of our writers, Maya Daw, to talk about her experiences as an Lebanese-American. Maya is a freshman studying Near Eastern Studies, Government, and Economics. In this interview she describes how her academic interests are tied to her identity - one informed by the strong women in her life and her parents’ efforts to instill Middle Eastern culture in her daily life.

Can you tell us about your family and your relationship with the United States?

I am a first-generation Lebanese American.

My mother and father were both born and raised in a rural town south of Beirut. My father eventually completed medical school in Belgium, and my mom did the same in Lebanon. After they got married, they decided to immigrate to the United States to work as physicians and raise a family.

Starting from the beginning, can you tell us about your childhood and growing up in the US? What was it like growing up as a firstgeneration Lebanese-American?

My brother and I spent our childhood in a suburb in Ohio. Over the years, I lived a fairly normal life as a kid in the U.S., attending school and playing soccer, basketball, and volleyball.

In addition to attending school and playing sports, however, my parents made a conscious effort to ensure that my brother and I were staying connected to our Lebanese heritage. Each week, we attended private Arabic lessons, where we learned to read, write, and speak Arabic, while also learning to read the Quran—the holy book of our faith, Islam. I remember complaining about going to

to the lessons, and my parents responding by saying that I would thank them later for having me learn Arabic. Now that I am older, I am definitely grateful to them for doing so.

We visit family in Lebanon almost every year, and I am so grateful for the opportunities I have gotten to celebrate my culture.

In addition to the Arabic lessons each week, my family regularly attended and hosted gatherings with other Middle Eastern families. We were very involved in the community, and naturally socialized with the children of our parents’ friends.

Interestingly, I attended a Catholic, all-girls high school. The decision came naturally as my brother attended a Catholic high school himself, and had a good experience. I remember some of my parents’ friends questioning why they would choose to send their children to a Catholic high school, considering we are not Catholic. However, it was not completely uncommon for students of other faiths to attend, as some families were interested in the academic and singlegender community that these schools offered.

High school was a very insightful experience for me. I learned a lot about interreligious dialogue and culture. I was one of less than 10 Middle Eastern students in our class of 176 students, and one of less than 10 Muslim students. Being part of these minorities was daunting to me at first, and I found myself trying to hide my identity during freshman year.

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However, over time, I came to realize that my culture was something to embrace and that the majority of the students at my school did not actually care that I was “different” from them. I began to celebrate and appreciate my Middle Eastern heritage again.

How do you think the fact that you were enrolled in Arabic classes and grew up with a Lebanese-American identity influences your perspective today?

Growing up with a Lebanese-American identity and taking Arabic classes instilled in me the desire to always keep in touch with my heritage. I have really come to appreciate the efforts that my parents made to help their children learn to speak their language. Thinking about it now, I do not know what I would be doing now if I had not learned how to speak Arabic. It would be much harder to communicate with my extended family and I think that I would feel much more disconnected from my culture.

There was also value in the many Middle Eastern gatherings that my parents took me to. My mom is the only one of six children to leave Lebanon to live in the United States, and my dad is the only one of 7 children to leave and live permanently in the U.S. Nonetheless, they made sure that their children still had the opportunity to be surrounded by Lebanese and Middle Eastern culture as much as possible, while still living here.

As I discussed earlier, I did have moments in high school where I felt distant from my heritage, but my strong ties to it always brought me back in the end. I give my parents a lot of credit for this, because they made sure that I had opportunities to celebrate my cultural heritage growing up.

How did the lives/experiences of your mother, grandmother, or other female figures in your life influence you growing up?

I grew up around many strong Middle Eastern women. In addition to my mother, my four aunts, grandma, and my eight female cousins each played an important role in my childhood, even though they live overseas.

I have one aunt that I am particularly close to, and she has been like a second mother to me since I was a baby. She supports me, gives me life advice, and always checks in to make sure that I am safe and happy. I genuinely look up to her, and having her as a role model has been a source of comfort for me. She, among my other family members, have undeniably influenced my life and the person that I have become.

Maya and her mother (2015)

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How did you decide your major at Cornell?

During my childhood, I was not necessarily considering a career in law or policy.

Naturally, because both my parents are physicians, I long imagined myself pursuing a career in medicine. It was in high school— when I joined my school’s speech and debate team—that I began to gain interest in the social sciences and politics.

Coming into college, I began to see Middle Eastern affairs not only as a personal matter, but also an academic interest. I became more invested in the work of Sara El-Yafi—a Lebanese activist and political advisor that I genuinely look up to—and was inspired to learn more about the politics of the region. Then, I did some research on the Near Eastern Studies major, and decided to explore it as an option for my degree. As of right now, I am planning on double majoring in Near Eastern Studies, and either Government or Economics.

That’s so interesting. How does it feel to be studying something that is both academic and personal at the same time?

DWhile having a personal connection to the region that one is studying is not necessarily required, I think that there is undeniably a power in having that connection. The thought of potentially having an impact on a region that is important to my identity provides that extra motivation to work hard and make a difference. My personal connection to my area of study also offers me a perspective that others might have. I have had the opportunity to visit Lebanon almost every summer since I was a kid, and I have experienced what it is like being Lebanese in Lebanon, but also outside of Lebanon. I hear about the personal experiences of my cousins, aunts, grandma, and friends about what it is like as a woman in the country. I think the perspectives that I have gained throughout my life are

Iundoubtedly beneficial to me when it comes to studying the Middle East on an academic level.

Because of your interest in Government and Near Eastern Affairs, I think it will be interesting to have your insight on this. What are some misconceptions you think people have about Lebanon? What are the stereotypes and misconceptions people have about being a woman from Lebanon?

I think that oftentimes, in the West, when one thinks about Lebanon—or any country in the Middle East for that matter—they think of oppression and crisis. There is a lack of coverage of the Middle East in the Western media—and when it is covered, it is often in the context of some sort of conflict or dire situation.

When it comes to women in the Middle East specifically, a common misconception is that Middle Eastern culture itself promotes the oppression of women. The issue is not in identifying that gender disparities simply exist in the Middle East—they exist just as they may in any other part of the world. The issue is in associating it with the culture specifically and using it as a reason to pity Middle Eastern women.

Many misconceptions about Middle Eastern women also stems from misconceptions about the Islamic faith, and the assumption that all Middle Eastern people are Muslim. Muslim women are often stereotyped as being oppressed and restricted by their faith. This is a whole other topic that I could get into and debunk, but to summarize, the West often identifies Arab and Muslim as one in the same, and the stereotypes about each title end up exacerbating one another.

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Maya, her brother, and a few of their cousins in Lebanon (2015)

Thank you for sharing that. One last question: How do you plan on including more of your culture and heritage into your life at Cornell?

For starters, I think being part of Women of MENA is a great way for me to stay in touch with my culture and heritage at Cornell. I am excited to write and combat misconceptions about being a woman in the MENA region. I hope not only to learn about myself and the way that I celebrate Middle Eastern culture, but also about how others have experienced Middle Eastern culture in their own lives. At the end of the day, the “Middle Eastern experience” cannot be generalized and can look differently to different people.

I am also currently a member of the Arab Student Association, Lebanese Student Association, and the Muslim Educational and Cultural Association (MECA). I hope to increase my involvement in these organizations and take advantage of all the opportunities I have to celebrate my culture. The childhood experiences I discussed earlier have influenced me by always reminding me of my heritage and that there is always room for me to become closer to it.

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MEET EZGI YILMAZ: JOURNALIST

PROVOCATEUR TURNED DYSON STUDENT

By Laila Rahbari As a child, Ezgi Yilmaz recalls reading classic European literature and eating middle eastern cuisines. It was a childhood infused with both European and Middle Eastern cultures. Her identity in navigating both the European and Middle Eastern sides is complex, and it is a story that involves personal memories, family history, and the larger political-social climate.

Meet Ezgi, an International student from Turkey studying at the Dyson School. Her father is from a small village in southeastern Turkey, and her mother is from Ankara. Her fight for education and her rights as a woman began with her High School years in Turkey.

At Women of MENA, we explore the definition of what is and is not considered part of the Middle East. Turkey is a unique country for us to discuss because it technically lies on two continents; yet by many, it is not considered Middle Eastern because Turkish institutions are European and because of Turkey’s unique culture.

Turkey is considered a European Country by Cornell. and according to the United Nations, “Turkey participates fully in both the Group of Western European and other States and the Group of Asia-Pacific States, but for electoral purposes is considered a member of the Group of Western European and other States only.” The CIA World Factbook lists Turkey as a country under the Middle East. This complexity leaves us wondering: how much of Turkey is European, and how much is Middle Eastern/Asian? Our publication is centered on telling the individual stories of women and so I asked Ezgi about what she feels she identifies as.

"I WOULD IDENTIFY MYSELF AS MIDDLE EASTERN. I CALL MYSELF [MIDDLE EASTERN] BECAUSE ALL MY FRUSTRATION AND… RESILIENCE, I THINK, COMES FROM THAT [PART OF ME]. AND I WOULDN'T WANT TO ERASE THAT. I'M PROUD OF IT." With the rise of political Islam in the late 20th and early 21st century, Turkey has faced severe political instability. From a series of Istanbul attacks to many secularist protests, Turkey's government rapidly changed throughout the 21st century.

Arguably, the worst of these events was a coup attempt in July of 2016 allegedly organized by Fethullah Gulen, an exiled opponent of President Tayyip Erdogan. As a result, the government shut down many media outlets and executed a heavy crackdown on the country in the aftermath of the coup (BBC world news).

For Ezgi, such events greatly impacted her education, especially as a woman.

"Education in Turkey is not good. Our best college is probably ranked 800th in the world. The government controls the deans that run our universities," said Ezgi.

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Her struggle for stable education began in her high school years when she moved three and a half hours away from her hometown to Istanbul in order to attend school. Ezgi's travels paid off as she studied the renowned global education program, the International Baccalaureate.

Given the current situation with Turkey's government, Ezgi felt pressured to pursue a career in health or STEM to fill the missing gaps of important professions for the country at the time.

"[PEOPLE] ARE ALWAYS PUSHING YOU TO BE A DOCTOR OR ENGINEER - A VERY CLASSIC TRADITIONAL MINDSET. BECAUSE THEY KNOW THAT YOU CANNOT GET A JOB AND MONEY IN THE ARTS OR THE SOCIAL SCIENCES, SO IN MY PROGRAM I FOCUSED MOSTLY ON MATH AND CHEMISTRY. STILL, I ALSO TOOK ECONOMICS, AND I REALIZED HOW MUCH I LIKE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND POLITICAL ISSUES." In high school, journalism served as another outlet for Ezgi to shed light on Turkey's political issues and the issues she felt she faced as a woman. In her weekly school newspaper, Ezgi critiqued the Islamic censorship taking place in her classes, where history and government classes were altered to accommodate Islamic ideology.

"OUR TEACHERS WERE SO BIASED, THEY ALWAYS MADE US FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE AS WOMEN, OR THEY WERE ALWAYS PRAISING OUR PRESIDENT..."

For Ezgi, it was necessary to shed light on the issues she faced as a woman with the rapidly changing government and new mandates in schools surrounding Islam. Such mandates included a change in dress code and limitations on cosmetic appearance.

The continuous shutdown of newspapers and other publications gave Ezgi a voice, making her feel at once powerful and vulnerable. She describes the fear the government had of youth journalism as her school became a haven to critique the government. She recalls how on one occasion, a classmate mocked the words of the President, and the police appeared at her school.

Ezgi further explained the meaning behind the efforts of her and her classmates: "The newspaper was a great experience for me.

Even though it was such an amateur experience, I felt like I was doing professional journalism in such a hard country. Yet, we were getting censored every week. I would go to the head minister and talk to her about it. She was supporting [the newspaper] a lot. She wanted us to start to write about political things. One time the police came to our school because of an incident with another student. Yet, [I think] the police are scared of high school students; even the universities in Turkey don't have good newspapers."

The continued shutdown of publications in Turkey led to a change in administration at Ezgi's school. The new dean of her school, freshly hired by the government, attempted to shut down the newspaper on numerous

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attempts and transform it into an art magazine. Ezgi noted that the government can decide who the deans of all schools and universities are.

The changes occurring in Ezgi’s school reflected wider issues the country faced. Newspapers were increasingly being shut down. Access to media critiquing the Turkish government, and providing more rounded news, was slim.

"The President nearly started controlling the whole media. I have only one app on my phone that is just writing about, oppos[ing] the Turkish government,”

Ezgi's fight to support her country, despite her government's decision-making, reflects the same perspective many people living in MENA countries have. In the West, it is common that as governments make poor decisions on behalf of the people, negative sentiment towards Middle Easterns develops. Such narratives, common in the media, de-centers the voices of individuals who desire change. Ezgi's story serves as a reminder that the people of MENA countries are not defined by their governments or by their laws. In the end, we are all people fighting for a happy and healthy life for ourselves, our loved ones, and our country - and we can’t wait to see how Ezgi’s efforts will one day make a difference.

Traditional Turkish Breakfast, Picture from Ezgi

Ezgi at a women's march in Turkey (Ezgi is featured second from the right)

By this point, Ezgi was beginning to prepare for her move to America. Like many of her friends, Ezgi’s long-term goal - the one driving her at Cornell - is to help the country that she loves. She explained how many of her friends who stayed in Turkey have this same passion: to use their education to change Turkey for the better. With her new chapter at Cornell, Ezgi plans to study global development in the Dyson School and knows she will eventually return to Turkey.

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“EVERY WOMAN WANTS TO FEEL BEAUTIFUL”:

MEET GIZELLE BEGLER, THE AMERICAN-

EGYPTIAN DESIGNER MAKING MODEST FASHION

EXTRAVAGANT.

By Ainav Rabinowitz

Picture this: a max-luxury couture business run from a small apartment, producing the top fashion dresses in all of Cairo. Dresses for socialites, princesses, and celebrities - all ornamented to the greatest extent. Original, beautiful, hand-crafted pieces.

Right outside stands a street vendor selling fresh fruit and vegetables as cars and people rush by. You could see the back of the white van overflowing with local produce options.

Amid the bustling nature of running her own wedding dress design company, Gizelle Couture, Gizelle Begler could be found lowering a basket from her window to the street vendor to buy her weekly groceries.

Begler explained this story with nostalgia and appreciation. It represents the start of her career and the relationship between her identity and passion.

Gizelle Begler is an Egyptian-American fashion designer who graduated from Cornell University in 2008 with a degree in Fiber Science and Apparel Design. She began her career working for the design houses of Giorgio Armani and Tommy Hilfiger before starting her own business in the Middle East.

In 2016 Gizelle moved back to the US to join the online Hijab company Haute Hijab as their creative director. Gizelle has had her hijab collections featured in Elle, Harper's Bazaar, and Vogue with the messaging that there is currently a huge gap in the hijab space.

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Growing Up with an EgyptianAmerican Identity: “Muslims can be anybody, right? It's not this image that the media has portrayed. You can be this platinum Blonde American Girl, like myself, who was raised here and be Muslim and be very much American,” Gizelle explained, as she showed us an image of her in the Women’s March wearing an American Flag hijab.

The hijab she wore in the picture was elaborate, bedazzled so that the stars of the flag shine through.

Gizelle grew up in Westport, Connecticut the only Muslim family in her neighborhood.

She recalls growing up in an accepting environment, with her friends curious and excited about her faith and identity.

“It always made me feel cool and interesting to be Egyptian. I was never ashamed of it.

This could have been because I didn’t wear the headscarf - it’s possible I would have had a very different experience had I been a hijabi.”

You would think that [the market] would be saturated because it’s part of their culture, but it really isn’t. That surprised me and it shifted my interest to using my love for glam towards a purpose and cater towards the modest customer. Not just the Muslim modest customer, but anyone who wants to be modest and beautiful.”

But more than just identifying a market, Gizelle learned an important lesson that has defined the trajectory of her career as well as her values as a fashion designer.

“The Middle east opened up my eyes to the struggle of the Modest women…It is a global issue. I can’t believe that with the number of modest women in the world - not just Muslim women, but Orthodox women, and Christians who are modest…[yet] there is no singular, global brand that represents them.”

Gizelle sees her identity as tied to her personal taste as a fashion designer.

“As an Egyptian, I love to be very glam. More is better. That’s how my mother was, it’s how I was raised. When I got to Cornell, I wanted to work on extreme, over-the-top fashion designs. No limits. That’s where I started, and that cultural background shaped who I was as a designer. I’m also a practicing Muslim, and I dress modestly. So, as I designed dresses at Cornell, I remained in that modest realm. It was part of who I was.”

From just a freshman at Cornell, Gizelle prioritized modest fashion - and it eventually led her to identify a gap in the Modest Fashion market.

“My eyes were awoken to the tremendous need in the Middle East for modest fashion designs - beautifully done modest fashion designs.

The Creation of Gizelle Couture: Gizelle Couture started off with an opportunity to design a dress for the royal family. Not many stumble upon this opportunity – and Gizelle seized it. After working for Giorgio Armani and Tommy Hilfiger, she opened up her own wedding dress boutique in Kuwait and eventually moved to Egypt.

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She started getting booths in bridal fairs, where she presented both open strapless gowns and more modest dresses. Gizelle explained how some women, particularly in the Gulf countries, have split weddings with a women and men’s side. The women who dress modestly can wear what they want on the women’s side - which is why she had so much variety.

Gizelle was all about the extravagant, and she knew the Middle East was the place for her to “bend the rules.” She wanted to create art through her dresses – and woman in Egypt embraced her wild designs. She had movie stars like Mai Ezz Eldin wearing her dresses for photoshoots and covering enigma magazine in Egypt. It was in these moments Gizelle knew she had “made it.”

A One-Stop-Shop Solution for Hijabi Wearers: Haute Hijab Gizelle traveled back to the US after her mother was diagnosed with a terminal illness and had to pivot and figure out her chapter. She went to a Muslim Entrepreneurial networking event where she met the founders of Haute Hijab, an online hijab business that was in desperate need of a Creative Director.

Similar to the start of Gizelle Couture, the first photoshoot for Haute Hijab took place in Gizelle’s Brooklyn apartment.

They hung hijabs from the ceiling with fishing line, turned on studio lights, and shot some pictures. It was just the start the very first push, and little did they know, a turning point.

Her first collection was a luxury collection inspired by Old Hollywood.

The Haute Hijab customer, as Gizelle described it, is a Muslim-American woman, born-and raised in America. She felt an Old Hollywood style might be particularly appealing to such an audience.

“I wanted Haute Hijab to be a one-stop-shop solution for every woman who wore a hijab.

I had to think about the different tastes, skin complexions, and needs.”

Her goal was also to empower woman, particularly those who feel that modesty is somehow less beautiful.

The Luxury Collection put Haute Hijab on the map.

Gizelle also noticed that many Muslim women were losing their hair because of how tight they were tying their hijabs and because the fabrics they were using: polyesters, plastics, synthetics. After the luxury collection, they turned towards creating the best quality material, leading to their undercap collection that women wear under their hijabs.

The undercaps were custom-made in Spain; it cools down as your body temperature goes up and warms up as your body temperature goes down.

Their third collection was silk fashion, which had the aim of “normalizing hijabs in the West.” Gizelle’s final project was the sports hijab line, which set out to differ from synthetic fabric produced by Nike and other brands. Their mission for this set of designs was “no more makeshifts, no more compromises, no more settling.”

We asked Gizelle about the recent Balaklava trend as well as issues of cultural appropriation and misrepresentation of Hijabi wearers in the US.

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“Many of our followers at Haute Hijab are not necessarily Muslim. We have Orthodox women, Christians, and even Cancer patients. We receive emails asking, hey, is buying this appropriation? Is it offensive even though I’m not Muslim? We tell the customers that it is not, that hijabs are not exclusive to Muslims. They can be used for different purposes."

Gizelle recognizes the accomplishments of her career, but also sees that the market for modest fashion is still starved. There is enormous room to grow.

"For the most part, Muslims don’t feel offended by that sort of use. However, it can get touchy when countries such as France put up Hijab bans…but then balaklava are okay to wear. Or during the pandemic, wearing a hat and covering half your face with your mask is okay. But it’s not okay to wear a niqaab….That’s when people see the double standard.”

Gizelle has changed the landscape of the fashion industry, creating a space for empowerment, beauty, and modesty. The one tip she has: “never compromise on who you are or your vision.”

Gizelle also explained the important role of companies in such appropriation or misrepresentation.

“The other thing is that if companies create things that look super Muslim or modest but make it sexy and disrespect the initial belief behind it…it’s almost like if I were to put together a collection inspired by nuns or rabbis and have models wear something revealing. It won’t sit well with people.

You’re disrespecting the beliefs of a particular faith.”

The Goal: Make Every Woman Feel Beautiful “The goal for both Haute Hijab and Gizelle Couture is that the Hijab is beautiful and that you can be modest and fashionable.

These were stigmas created from ignorance and a lack of understanding and exposure to the cultures. Instead, people make assumptions that if you are modest, you must have a certain mentality where you’re less fun or not into fashion. These are still women who want to feel and look beautiful and want to express themselves with clothing. So, what we tried to do is provide them with the tools to express themselves so if you’re sporty, then here’s a sports hijab line. If you’re into glam, here’s a glam line.”

What’s the next market Gizelle has spotted?

Creating a line of hijabs in her new home Toronto, where she says hijabs are just “part of the landscape.”

Gizelle certainly hasn’t.

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STAFF PICKS T A K I N G

S H A P E :

A B S T R A C T I O N

T H E

A R A B

F R O M

W O R L D

The Women of MENA team felt inspired by the exhibit Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World. Over half the artists are women and we found that the artwork touched on gender issues.

Many of the artists moved to Western countries but feel connected to the MENA Region, similar to many of our team members. The exhibit, to us, represents a celebration of MENA culture, art, and identity. Next are some of our favorite pieces.

Scan the QR code to learn more about the exhibit at the Johnson Museum of Art

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AINAV'S PICK

COMPOSITION NO. 3 BY RAMSÈS YOUNAN

I was drawn to Composition No. 3 by Ramsès Younan because of how overwhelming it is to look at. It feels like I’m starting at the Last Judgment of the Sistine Chapel or the ceiling of the Church of the Gesù - there is almost too much to observe.

My eyes wander around the painting, looking at where to even start. It’s almost like Younan is trying to challenge the viewer - daring us to not look away. The piece resembles body parts falling down - but in my eyes, it almost seems like a surrealist landscape falling apart. The only light part of the image seems to be the yellow light coming from the center.

Ramsès Younan grew up in a poor Coptic-

Christian family in Minya, a city about 150 miles south of Cairo. Given the historical treatment of Coptic Christians in Egypt, I wonder how his upbringing informed not only his career and political stance but the very dynamics of this painting. In his career, he also joined Art et Liberté and was a key figure in the Egyptian Surrealist movement.

Younan also met the poet Georges Henein, who is considered the founder of Egyptian Surrealism. This piece is specifically thought to have been inspired by Younan’s activism for women’s rights. How does poetry inform this painting? Further, what informed the political identities of the Art and Liberty Group? What common themes might I find across their artworks?

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MAYA'S PICK

UNTITLED, C. 1980 BY YVETTE ACHKAR

Yvette Achkar’s oil painting, Untitled, expresses Achkar’s view that the value of art is in the idea of self-discovery as opposed to conveying a particular theme.

Upon viewing Achkar’s artwork, I was immediately drawn to the colorful contrast of strokes and shapes in the piece. The decision to name the work, “Untitled,” holds impact in itself, as it challenges the stereotype that artwork must have a defined purpose or structure. The painting leaves viewers with a feeling of selfsearching and spontaneity.

Lebanese artist, Yvette Achkar, was born in São Paulo, Brazil in 1928. Achkar graduated from the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (ALBA) in Beirut in 1952, and later continued her study of art in Paris. Now considered one of Lebanon’s leading modernists, Achkar has exhibited worldwide, and passed her expertise down to aspiring artists in Lebanon through her teaching at ALBA and the Institute of Fine Art, Lebanese University. One question I would like to ask Achkar is, “During the 1960s, you consolidated your art into a single style based in color and line—what motivated you to make this stylistic decision and how does it influence the impact your art has on viewers?”

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LAILA'S PICK

ACROSS THE TOWN, FROM THE SERIES

BEDSHEETS, 1970, BY SETA MANOUKIAN

I chose Seta Manoukian (Born Beirut, 1945), Across the Town, because the painting reminded me of the diversity of seasons in the MENA region. I saw both the snowy mountains of Tehran and the sandy dunes of the Arabian desert. I was further drawn to the piece because it reminded me of the mountains of the city my parents grew up in.

My parents always described the scenic mountains of Tehran and how beautiful the city was prior to the 1979 Revolution. Aside from what I perceive as a snow landscape, Mamoukian’s portrayal also includes shades of blue and black. Those colors remind me of the warped reality of what the Middle East is, compared to the perspectives of the outside looking in. Rather than seeing the beauty of the middle east, many only see the darkness and the destruction of certain places or the warped reality of what once existed in the past.

On the other hand, I think Manoukian is trying to convey her version of warped reality. I believe she is portraying the tangled sheets of her bed and the complex relationships of her life. Her mixed feelings are represented by the constant twists and turns of her top bedsheet. She portrays lightness in the white, representing the clearer and happier moments of her life and feelings. She shows darkness in the blue and black, representing the more complicated, darker, and negative aspects of her life and emotions.

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SHANZAI'S PICK

AYLA BY HIND NASSER

I was drawn to Ayla due to the gorgeous hues of light pink in the background. I think the artist is trying to replicate a piece of land or mountainous area, maybe an area close to their home, particularly due to the way the yellow and green hues rise up towards each other. I feel a sense of serenity when I look at this painting because of its light, calming colors. The artist's color palette is very minimal but they were able to use each color in a meaningful way.

Hind Nasser, a well known Turkish artist in 1976, is the artist behind the painting.

Nasser studied politics and history, and strived to create cultural scenes of Jordan.

She co-founded the Jordan Museum for Archaeology, established arts and crafts centers and galleries. I would want to ask Nasser how she was able to intertwine art with history and politics. The painting she created depicts the landscape of Jordan, so she may be giving voice to this region, but I want to find out more about how this painting connects and represents all her interests.

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SIOBHAN'S PICK

TO MONET, GIVERNY

BY ABDALLAH BENANTEUR

I chose this painting for the sensation of familiarity it sparked in me. As the title indicates, this painting is a homage to the French impressionist artist Monet. The vivid colors are reminiscent of Monet but escalated and revitalized with the use of white and reddish-orange. It was this light and vibrancy that drew me to this painting. I was also intrigued by the homage to a European artist by an Arab artist. Given the vast and complicated history of colonialism and control between the Europeans and the Middle East, I was surprised by the choice.

Upon researching the artist and their intentions, Abdallah Benanteur was born and raised in Algeria during the end of the French colonial state and the establishment of the new Algerian state. He argued that art should reflect upon and interact with global history rather than exclude it. With this in mind, his homage to Monet as an Algerian artist makes complete sense, as he interacts with the infamous art of his nation's former colonial oppressors. His defense of abstractionism and figurative art is realized through the tackling of his nation's deeply complicated history in this beautiful piece. He captures the importance of including all aspects of history, the good and the bad, the beautiful and the corrupted.

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ELIZ'S PICK

MINDSCAPE BY MALIHEH AFNANBY

I was drawn to Maliheh Afnan’s work due to the dark aesthetic the painting encaptures.

The contrast in the different gray’s and the shadows as well as spots of coloring really caught my attention. When I first saw this, I felt like there was a story being told from the black strokes in the background. When I looked closer, I felt like each black stroke in the background represented a memory, but the colors of gray, blue, purple and yellow are hiding these memories by blurring out each stroke. The title of this piece being “mindscape” also shows how this could represent the mind of children growing up in war-ridden Middle-Eastern countries.

Iranian artist, Maliheh Afnan, was born in Palestine, but moved to Beirut after she witnessed the exodus of 1948. She graduated from the American University at Beirut with a BA and soon traveled to Washington DC to the Corcoran School of the Arts. Due to her growing up in Palestine, and being immersed into war at a young age, this hazy gray painting seems to reflect her life growing up. Due to her history, I would like to ask her what motivated her to express her story through art, and in what way painting as a medium provided her with a unique outlet.

OUR PICK: ART PIECE BY FATIMA EL ASHRAM, OUR DESIGNER

ISLAM AND GENDER

This illustration is by our designer Fatima El Ashram, which will soon come out alongside our next article on Sharia Law and Feminism. As an International Student from Egypt, Fatima felt she had her own perspective on this topic. The background of this piece says "Islam promotes gender equality." Talk to Fatima to find out more about her vision for this piece!

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WOMEN OF MENA