Academic discourse on gender (in)equality, (often) driven by Arabic governments or/and Western intellectuals, neglects a key factor: the agency of Arabian women as manifested in actions and discourses on social media – a platform renowned for anonymity and transparency. To fill in this critical lacuna, this paper examines the role that (mostly anonymous) women in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman have played on Twitter (since the 2010 Arab Spring) in managing sexism, inequality and patriarchy; challenging the status quo; and, in turn, igniting social change. The analysis is motivated by current contentions in new media discourse on the link between social media and social change (i.e. whether or not digital actions lead to tangible social change [Morozof 2011; Blommaert 2017]. The data set is taken from a larger decade-long ethnographic project on social media and Arab identity. I identity four types of digital gender-transformative actions/mini revolutions carried out by Arabian women on Twitter: 1) Religious activism (e.g. challenging religious texts and authority); 2) Linguistic activism (e.g. changing sexist Arabic vocabulary and language); 3) Legal activism (e.g. learning about and spreading awareness of local and international laws on human rights; 4) Journalistic activism (e.g. exposing social taboos through reporting crimes, including honor killings and domestic violence; and 5) Global activism (e.g. creating lines of dialogue with Arab feminists in the West). In addition to listing the main actions, hashtags, tweets, and trends that have shaped feminism in Arabia over the past decade, I ground the discussion in larger concomitant social phenomenon (e.g. the end of the Sahwa in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the war in Yemen, the rising power of Qatari media, and the social move towards a more humanistic approach to life). Connecting the micro digital actions of Arabian women with macro political discourses enables the capturing of the agency of Arabian women and the palpable shift in Arabian consciousness, resulting in emotional and societal discrepancy between inner change and outer rigid reality. I chart an inclusive agenda to enhance gender equality based on the actions of women in Arabia. The findings thus contribute to contemporary discourses on sociolinguistics, gender inequality and social activism amidst growing instability and social unrest. References Blommaert, Jan. (2017). Ludic membership and mobilization: On slacktivism and all that. Tilburg papers in Culture Studies, paper 193. Morozov, Evgeny. (2011). The net delusion: The dark side of internet freedom. New York, NY: Public Affairs.

In Qatar, contemporary processes of modern development and social change are deeply impacting women’s engagement in the public sphere and the professional opportunities available to them. In the wake of increased political and economic globalization, Qatari rulers have engaged in focused efforts to facilitate modern development through the implementation of gendered social and economic reforms. The state has taken on an increasingly active role in defining the parameters of women’s engagement in the public sphere and has represented itself as a patron of women’s advancement to domestic and international audiences. State initiatives pressure women to join the workforce to fulfill the state’s national agendas, including its Qatarization and economic diversification goals and the goal of transitioning to a knowledge-based economy. State rhetoric promotes women’s participation in higher education and the workforce, and state-led or state-sponsored initiatives encourage women to pursue new entrepreneurial and professional opportunities. This article analyzes contemporary state discourse on women’s empowerment in Qatar as embodied in state documents, government-run public relations campaigns, and the media output of state-run or state-sanctioned institutions to demonstrate how the Qatari state’s political rhetoric conflates women’s professional advancement with national progress and constructs the ideal Qatari woman as a neoliberal feminist subject. With particular attention to the rhetoric found in the state-run magazine Q Life, the article argues that the Qatari state is promoting a model of women’s empowerment that merges transnational paradigms of neoliberal feminism with nationalist ideals of loyalty and patriotism and presents the ideal “Qatari woman” as a neoliberal feminist subject who contributes to her state’s national development through her own professional development and fulfillment.

This qualitative, critical research study analyzes how women in two Gulf countries: Bahrain, which witnessed the “Arab Spring” uprisings, and Saudi Arabia, which didn’t witness such uprisings, engaged in mediated gendered activism. It compares and contrasts the various forms of activism(s) and resistance(s) exhibited by women in these two Gulf states, both online and offline. It pays special attention to how women in these two countries used the phenomenon of “cyberactivism,” and its sister phenomenon of “cyberfeminism,” to support their causes, amplify their voices, and demand their rights in the three interrelated political, social and legal spheres. It relies on a deep textual analysis of the social media platforms of women activists in these two countries to answer the following questions: How did the political and social conditions of each of these countries, and their different paths to political and social reform, influence the political, social, and legal conditions of women, as well as the level, form, and intensity of their activism and resistance efforts, both online and offline? How and why did Arab women in each of these countries engage in the three parallel struggles in the political, social and legal spheres, and what tools did they use? What lessons could be learned from some of the successful examples in each of these countries in the realm of mediated gendered activism, and what lessons could be learned from some of the unsuccessful examples? In answering these questions, specific campaigns will be referred to, such as amending the family law in Bahrain and lifting the driving ban in Saudi Arabia, to mention only a few examples. The paper will provide a robust explanation of the political, social, cultural and legal factors which impacted the extent, intensity, form, direction, and impact of gendered activism in each of these countries, with a special focus on the potentials and limitations of mediated gendered activism via social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, and blogs, and their effectiveness, or lack thereof, in each of these countries. Based on the findings of the undertaken research, conclusions will be drawn as to how and why some of these efforts were more effective than others, and recommendations will be offered as to how to maximize the effectiveness of these gendered campaigns, both online and offline, in the future.

The Gulf Arab States are engaged in the process of creating a unique national-identity, which will differentiate them from the neighboring states and help them strengthen their image globally. Nationalism and national identity are two still under construction. Recently, Gulf States have accelerated their efforts in promoting a national myth rooted in the selective imagining of the past, the binary of modern nationalism theory. The role of women is central to nation building and national-identity projection; each of the States uses women as a symbol of the nation’s values, vision and policies. The paper seeks to answer the following; to what extent and in what ways are national identities and policies in Gulf States gendered? In addition, the paper will explore the status of women in relation to nation-building processes in two Gulf countries. This paper uses mostly two research methods to research the topic and answer the main questions: secondary sources such as quantitative and qualitative studies on national identity in Gulf and the role of women in this identity construction and discourse analysis of relevant government documents and projects to contextualize broader studies and theories.

Women’s Representation in Oman: State-Led Inequality Across the Gulf region, the government of Oman is generally viewed as moderate, especially as it relates to the advancement of the status of women. In fact, in 1994 Oman became the first country in the region to extend political rights to women, and was among the first Arab countries to appoint women to ministerial posts and ambassadorships. Additionally, Oman has enacted a variety of progressive laws as it relates to women’s social status and personal rights laws. Still, despite these nominally positive perceptions, Oman’s fifty-year modernization and development history has yet to see women appointed or elected to high position, especially given that women comprise roughly half of the population. When evaluating Oman’s thirty-four ministers, only four were female and among the eighty-five state council members, there are only fifteen females. These low numbers are in spite of the Omani government’s vocal support for women, which includes many ministries and high-ranking officials frequently stating that Omani women have equal rights. Nevertheless, this discrepancy evidences that Omani women’s political participation is primarily symbolic, rather than representative. The overarching question of this research will be to ascertain Omani women’s self-perception of the small number of women serving in decision-making bodies, including the federal government and State Council. Part of this analysis will include an examination of women’s role in pushing the government for equal representation in these institutions. I argue that if Omani women were able to collectivize their work and efforts, they would see more success within the upper echelons of government. This research will determine if women who successfully reach high-positions do enough from their perch to advance equal rights. Additionally, it will question whether enough attention is being paid to mechanisms that enforce equitable measures. Answers to these questions are integral to understanding the relationship between traditional thinking, and claims of modernity. Methodologically, this paper will utilize a qualitative feminist approach, including expert interviews with female Omani politicians. Resulting data will be synthesized to develop an understanding regarding Omani women’s views toward patriarchy and state-led patriarchy. This research will provide a new perspective regarding inequality among females in high governmental positions. Subsequently, the results of this inquiry could lead to policy recommendations related to women’s representation in politics.