Now that Arab women are pouring into the streets by the million, men discover with dismay that they, not women, were the captives of the harem dream.
Fatema MernissiRead
Educated women armed with computers have defeated extremists by denying them a monopoly to define cultural identity and interpret religious texts. No extremist can say that women are inferior to men without being made a laughingstock on Al Jazeera. Islam insisted on equality between everyone.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Educated women challenge extremist views and promote gender equality in society.
In this quote, Fatema Mernissi emphasizes the empowerment of women through education and technology as a vital force against extremist ideologies that seek to diminish their roles in society. By equipping women with knowledge and tools, they can assert their rights and challenge harmful interpretations of cultural and religious norms, making it difficult for extremists to uphold outdated views of gender inequality in the public sphere, particularly through influential media platforms like Al Jazeera.
Themes
EducationWomenEmpowermentExtremismEqualityTechnology
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech advocating for women's rights, this quote could be used to highlight the importance of education in combating extremism.
More from Fatema Mernissi
All quotes →To understand the fanatic rejection of women's liberation in the Muslim world, one has to take into account the time factor. Most of us educated women have illiterate mothers. The conservative wave against women in the Muslim world is a defense mechanism against profound changes in both sex roles and the touchy subject of sexual identity.
Fatema MernissiRead
A woman can walk miles without making one single step forward. As a child born in a harem, I instinctively knew that to live is to open closed doors. To live is to look outside. To live is to step out. Life is trespassing.
Fatema MernissiRead
You find in the Koran hundreds of verses to support women's rights, and perhaps four or five that do not.
Fatema MernissiRead
If women's rights are a problem for some modern Muslim men, it is neither because of the Quran nor the Prophet, nor the Islamic tradition, but simply because those rights conflict with the interests of a male elite.
Fatema MernissiRead
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