#DearSister

In the lead up to International Women’s Day, Arab and Muslim women took to Twitter to combat misogynistic attributes of their communities in a hashtag #DearSister, started by Egyptian-American journalist Mona Eltahawy. Many of the girls and women used the hashtag as an opportunity to bring light to their personal stories. Others took a more structural approach, reflecting on their observations of those around them.

“To be honest, when I first tweeted it out, I did it almost as a joke,” Eltahawy told the BBC. “For me the most important thing is that #DearSister is a platform for Muslim women and girls – somewhere they get the space to speak, and everyone must listen.”

Thank you fellow Muslim women who've shared their experience. +18,000 tweets from around the world! #DearSister https://t.co/FWSU3KIbMy

— Mona Eltahawy (@monaeltahawy) March 6, 2017

#DearSister ht tells how Muslim women deal with Islamophobia, misogyny and patriarchy all at once

— Farhiya Adan (@farhiyaadan21) March 5, 2017

https://twitter.com/TheHuff_/status/838663485202567168

The hashtag included some very important points, that are largely under-addressed, or even tabooed. Marriage, education, and harassment were all discussed.

#dearsister "you don't want to be too educated otherwise you'll never find a husband" because education is a threat to regressive constructs

— Yasmina (@animsche) March 6, 2017

Siyane A. Bari wrote about how women are encouraged to under achieve:

#DearSister Don't achieve/succeed too much in life Cs this might be intimidating for ur husband.

— Siyane Aniley (@EthioPhenomenal) March 6, 2017

While Azadeh Akbari tweeted about a the common misconceptions amongst men and the culture of blame:

https://twitter.com/azadeh_akbari/status/838447754607230980

https://twitter.com/jinanmazen/status/838477687190597632

Women bravely opened up about the threats they’ve received:

#DearSister "if you don't quit your post, I will kill you. We're threatening you in advance out of respect because you're a woman"-2007

— Rasha Al Aqeedi (@RashaAlAqeedi) March 5, 2017

They also highlighted the way they are judged by the way they dressed; debugging a famous parallel that compared women to covered lollipops.

https://twitter.com/SuperKnafeh/status/838723889794592768

There were many who took to the hashtag to even address contradictions in culture versus Islamic teachings. Both Khadija and Aisha are wives of the Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) and both have played very prominent roles in early Islamic history and were known for their contributions to the Islamic community, their strength of character and their self-empowerment.

https://twitter.com/thatmuhajababe/status/838657702364487680

https://twitter.com/ProfMagz/status/838576304186343424

https://twitter.com/Afgeezy97/status/838529645750341634

However, this did not go without controversy. Some men were worried that this trend would put Islam in a bad light.

https://twitter.com/sarmadbdk/status/838464562374529025

https://twitter.com/WarriorRoseFit/status/838466092347465728

https://twitter.com/Maherush/status/838554873683718145

There were also men who encouraged and supported their female counterparts in raising awareness and stood in solidarity.

https://twitter.com/Real_Wordslayer/status/838437001175175168

This. People say this to hide & protect abusers, which only further enables oppression. Don't hide them & don't protect them. https://t.co/VH42ki07Dq

— Âbdallāh (@HypnagogicStryx) March 5, 2017

Most importantly, the women refused to allow Islamophobes hijack the hashtag.

https://twitter.com/stressedmuslim/status/838501296957190145