This paper attempts to map some of the ways in which Syrian women are negotiating a space for themselves within the gendered modalities of Syrian civic, religious, and political frameworks. Based on recorded interviews as well as published studies in both Arabic and English, this presentation aims to delineate some of the gains that women in Syria have accomplished as well as the obstacles they are currently working to overcome. In particular, the paper hopes to address the ways in which women's status in Syria is complicated by the experience of a brief period of European colonial rule, the establishment of a newly emerging, often highly contested, nation state, the rise of political Islam, and the emergence of new forms of international feminism. In the process, this paper will attempt to trace women's activism in Syria from its beginnings in the twentieth century to its latest concerns and manifestations today. In so doing, it will address: feminism and Syrian women's literary endeavors; Syrian women's social activism and charity organizations; public involvement in pre-independence nationalist efforts; women and the rise of political Islam; women and state legislation, including personal status laws and the concept of gendered citizenship; and the relationship between Syrian women's organizations, human rights organizations, and international feminist organizations.