This paper analyzes Yemeni women's participation (2011-2012) in the Arab Spring as it manifested in Yemen. I focus on the role that women's participation in Islamic movements played in ousting Saleh from Yemen, as well as the potential that the post-Saleh enviroment creates for Yemeni women to play a wider range of roles in the public realm, especially at the political level. Typically, revolutionary moments have created spaces for women to become involved in political activism to a degree that is subsequently not allowed, after the conclusion or settling of the upheaval. This was true for Iranian women and the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Here I look at this phenomenon, and question whether or not Yemeni women, such as Tawakkul Karman and others, will be able make any substantial, prolonged, and sustainable changes in their statuses. Will any interpretation of Islam that allowed for their participation during the last year, be supported in the future? If so, how and why?
Religious Studies/Theology