The Arabist

The Arabist

By Issandr El Amrani and friends.

Introducing Hatshepsut

This is a (very long overdue) announcement that the Arabist family has added another member. Please check out the blog Hatshepsut, which has been up and running for some time now, waiting to be officially unveiled. It contains some gems.

Hatshepsut is dedicated to covering women's rights and issues, the history of feminism in Egypt, and pretty much anything else that strikes Hatshepsut's interest. While the (male-dominated) writers on the main Arabist blog have occasionally reported on women's issues, I have to admit that this hasn't been a strong suit of the blog and having someone dedicated to these issues (and with a journalistic and academic interest in them) is, in my opinion, a great and hopefully useful step.

Please check out the archives, whether to scan the mini-biographies of notable and injustly forgotten Egyptian women (where you can also find out about the queen that this blog is named after); to read one of the many strange or insightful conversations Hatshepsut has overheard in Cairo; or to hear from Hatshepsut herself about what life for a young woman in Cairo is like.

This is the first step in making some wider changes to Arabist.net. More news soon.