The paper highlights the challenges of carrying out research on emotion and affect in Middle East studies. It highlights how Arab scholars are using the language of emotion, affect, and affective encounter to capture the experiences of female activists. The analysis is situated within the literature on emotions, affects, and contentious politics. The data for this paper is gathered from semi-structured interviews with scholars, female activists, protestors, and leaders of women's rights groups. The data gathered is analyzed within the prism of critical discourse analysis in an attempt to investigate how past experiences of affective intensity influence future activism. A focus on affect places the experiences of activists squarely in our analysis. It is apt to capture the complexity of the topic while retaining the authenticity of the subject--and I would also argue the researcher. It allows researchers to reclaim the voices of female activists in explaining the challenges and opportunities that developed during and following the uprising and how these developments influenced and shaped their experience, movement, and mobilization.