Wonder Woman of the Week: Mona Eltahawy

This week's Wonder Woman is shaking up the world with her work in advancing the rights of women in Egypt and the rest of the Arabic-speaking world. Mona Eltahawy was born in Egypt in 1967, but moved around a lot as a child. At seven, her family moved to the UK before moving to Saudi Arabia when she was fifteen. Eventually Eltahawy returned to Egypt to attend college in Cairo where she eventually earned a Master's degree in Mass Communication with a focus on journalism. After graduating, Eltahawy became a correspondent for Reuters for Cairo and Jerusalem.

Mona Eltahawy continued to serve as a correspondent for foreign media including the Washington Post and the New York Times for years before starting a feminist newsletter in 2020. The foundation came after Eltahawy migrated to the US in 2000 and became a US citizen in 2011. From there, she acted as the managing editor of a feminist online newsletter in 2003 that covered women's issues around the globe.

Eltahawy also oversaw a progressive newsletter covering issues affecting the Arab-speaking world before her work was removed in 2006 for being too critical of the Egyptian government at the time. Throughout the 2010's, Eltahawy publihsed several articles and even a book about the sneed for supporting the Muslim community during the War on Terror against Islamophobia in the United States.

That did not mean she was entirely in support of the status quo of Arabic culture. In 2015, Mona Eltahawy published a book revealing the intense sexism within Arabic culture. Eltahawy has also discussed issues affecting women in Africa with particular focus on female genital mutilation in African Arabic-speaking nations. Describing herself as an anarcho-feminist, Eltahawy has also published several works on LGBTQ+ rights across the world- especially in Arab societies. Eltahawy later published a book supporting her claim that women must engage in what she refers to as seven necessary sins for women and girls- anger, attention, ambition, power, profanity, violence, and lust- if they wish to make any meaningful change or achieve any level of success in life.

Mona Eltahawy is a fascinating figure because of her work in protecting the rights of Muslim-Americans while simultaneously working to expose the toxic imperfections of Arab societies. Eltahawy has worked hard to support the rights of women and girls while championing her belief that women must go to extreme lengths to achieve any semblance of equality.