From head of state to head of the family, men are pillars of patriarchies across the Arab region. Shereen El Feki and panel discuss the first international study of the personal lives of Arab men to explore how these roles are changing. Panelists include Nadje Al-Ali, Amrou Al-Kadhi and Kareem Shaheen.

Shereen El Feki (@shereenelfeki) is the author of ‘Sex and the Citadel: Intimate Life in a Changing Arab World’, a study of changing sexual attitudes and behaviours across the Arab region. ‘Sex and the Citadel’ has been translated into six languages, and was nominated for both the Guardian First Book Award and the Orwell Prize. She is an award-winning healthcare correspondent with The Economist and a presenter with Al Jazeera English. As a Senior Fellow with Promundo, Shereen is currently leading IMAGES-MENA, a pioneering study of men, masculinities and gender equality in four countries across the Arab region.

Nadje Al-Ali is Professor of Gender Studies at the Centre for Gender Studies, SOAS, University of London. She has published widely on women and gender issues in the Middle East. Her publications include What kind of Liberation? Women and the Occupation of Iraq (2009, University of California Press, co-authored with Nicola Pratt); Women and War in the Middle East: Transnational Perspectives (Zed Books, 2009, co-edited with Nicola Pratt); Iraqi Women: Untold Stories from 1948 to the Present (2007, Zed Books) and Secularism, Gender and the State in the Middle East (Cambridge University Press 2000). Her most recent book (co-edited with Deborah al-Najjar) entitled We are Iraqis: Aesthetics & Politics in a Time of War (Syracuse University Press) won the 2014 Arab-American book prize for non-fiction. Currently, she is working on a research project about the Turkish-Kurdish conflict. Professor Al-Ali is a member of the Feminist Review Collective and on the advisory board of Kohl: A Journal f Body and Gender Research, based in Beirut.

Amrou Al-Kadhi a British Iraqi genderqueer writer, performer, and filmmaker. Their films have been commissioned by NOWNESS, BBC4 & the BFI, and they are the creator of musical comedy drag troupe Denim, who have an upcoming run at The Soho Theatre. They have a fortnightly column for The Independent, and a monthly column with The Gay Times. 

Kareem Shaheen is Turkey and Middle East correspondent at the Guardian, based in Istanbul and before that in Beirut. He holds a master’s degree in war studies from King’s College.
FREE, rsvp@mosaicrooms.org