ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book highlights the research that has been done on the history of Middle Eastern women in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It deals with a major theme in this research and is written by a scholar who is actively engaged in research on that theme. The history of women and gender in the Middle East context is still a developing scholarly field, characterized by divergence in method and motivation. The expression "women worthies" refers to the history of notable women, women who have played a role that is visible in public activities. The book focuses on women and gender in the modern Middle East, and its underlying assumption is that women's lives and gender relations have changed in fundamental ways with the historical transformations of the Middle East in the past two hundred years.
