Suzanne Mubarak

An injured horse last month disqualified equestrian Dalma Malhas from representing Saudi Arabia at the London Olympics. She would have been the first female athlete from the kingdom. Brunei and Qatar have entered several women for the first time, and although most Muslim countries send female athletes to various events, few boast outstanding women contestants. Why are they lagging so far behind the rest of the world and does the Arab Spring herald any change? In May, the Musli...

Egypt women protesting in Cairo. -image courtesy WNN Who, exactly, is “Egypt’s everywoman?” A June 28th New York Times profile suggests that she is Naglaa Ali Mahmoud, wife of newly elected Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi. Mahmoud’s history and path to the position of Egyptian first lady make her a bit hard to pin down. At first glance, she appears wholly conservative: the veiled wife of an Islamist, she was married to her cousin as a teenager and prefers to be called “Um Ahmed,”...