Today's genre books are full of future dystopias, which only have one weakness: teenagers. And everybody knows that most dystopias are kind of contrived. But here are 10 lessons from real-life rebellions against repressive regimes, that we wish the creators of fictional dystopias would pay attention to.
The BBC is reporting via Egyptian state media that a military court — because those are always conducted by the most fair-minded citizens — has cleared a doctor named Ahmed Adel of charges that he carried out "forced virginity tests" on female protesters at the start of last year's civil unrest in Egypt after a judge…
Even after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stepped down, there were reports of at least 18 female protesters being subjected to so-called "virginity tests" by military authorities. One official explained that they had to make sure the women had already had sex, because otherwise they could have accused the officers…
They call her "the woman who is like a hundred men." She calls herself "a girl of the revolution." And now newscaster turned activist Bothaina Kamel is running for president, the first woman to do so in the country's history.
For the first time, a military official has admitted that detained female protests in Tahrir Square were subjected to spurious, invasive "virginity tests." His comments to CNN don't exactly constitute an apology.
Egyptian authorities have been questioning former president Hosni Mubarak and his wife Suzanne about the massive wealth they accumulated when he was in office. Prosecutors ordered Suzanne, 70, into custody for 15 days. Hosni Mubarak is in the hospital.
One brave blogger has been telling her story of life as an openly gay woman in Damascus, Syria. But now she's gone underground.
Hundreds of women in Syria marched today, demanding the release of 350 men who were rounded up by authorities in connection with pro-democracy protests.
Reporters have been camped outside the home of Oksana Balinskaya's home in the Ukraine ever since she left Libya, chiefly because she was one of the sole "sexy" aspects of the generally gruesome events in Libya.
Amnesty International is condemning the treatment of at least 18 women protesters, who as late as March 9 — a month after Mubarak stepped down — were beaten, tortured, and strip-searched. They were also examined for their "virginity" and told that if they didn't "pass," they'd be charged as prostitutes.
"Mubarak is gone. Misogyny might be a tougher foe," concludes Jenna Krajeski in a New Yorker account of yesterday's march of women in Tahrir Square, which did not go as planned.
I was only half-heartedly looking for fashion in Cuba — it helped justify my presence there awhile back — and didn't really expect to find it. Still, somehow fashion — on "runways," even in a magazine — was everywhere.
