Nude Feminism Challenges Islamist Discourse
Nude protests are not an expression of women's freedom, but an extreme form of action that feeds the oppression of women in the Arab world, writes Yasmine Nagaty.
In the aftermath of the wave of uprisings that took place across the Arab world in 2011, women were placed under the spotlight of post-revolution political discussion. During the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions, the contribution of Arab women to the toppling of the Ben Ali and Mubarak regimes was both undeniable and admired.
Yet when Islamist regimes seized power in both countries, such recognition was withheld and replaced with advocacy for a range of oppressive policies for women. Indeed, various statements by Islamist figures have blamed women for both sexual harassment and domestic violence. As a result, a number of reactionary movements have sprung up for the purpose of rejecting Islamist agenda on women.
