ABSTRACT
It is fair to claim that the Arab uprisings that commenced in 2011 introduced the West to a new image ofwomen in theMiddle East: womenwho are courageous, independent, and technologically savvy. These uprisings, popularly referred to as the “Arab Spring,” introduced women who defied traditional Orientalist stereotypes, such as Yemeni Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkol Karman and Egyptian activist Asmaa Mahfouz, who are both veiled and far from helpless. At the same time, the “Arab Spring” exposed the diversity and complexity of women in theMiddle East and showed howwomen from theMiddle East cannot be lumped into one monolithic group, as they are sometimes categorized in certain Western feminist discourses (C. Cayer 1996; Amani Hamdan 2009; Chandra T. Mohanty 1991).
