Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing (BQFP) launched a collection of essays entitled Gulf Women at a function yesterday evening at the Georgetown School of Foreign Service in Qatar (SFS-Q).
The event opened with a welcome from SFS-Q dean Gerd Nonneman and BQFP director Hanouf al-Buainain.
The book’s editor, Dr Amira Sonbol, said: “I want to begin by thanking HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, whose idea it was that this book be researched and produced, and who was an inspiration for myself and my colleagues who put the book together.”
Fellow contributors Dr Moneera al-Ghadeer and Dr Amira El-Zein presented excerpts from their respective chapters. Al-Ghadeer explored symbolic representations of the Arabian Peninsula by discussing Bedouin women’s poetry and the perspective it offers on women from the region.
El-Zein read from her contribution, which interprets song and literature from the Hijaz under Ummayad rule, analysing how it is reflected through class and gender.
The readings were followed by discussion that touched on how the book’s findings counter stereotypes about women in the region as well as its pertinence to Muslim women everywhere.