Letter in al-Hilal: Arguing for Women’s Equality in the Arab World

Esther Azhari Moyal’s letter, which appeared in the Egyptian literature monthly al-Hilal (The Crescent), was the first signed contribution by a woman to the leading Arabic intellectual journal. It is a clear, logical rebuttal to a critique of women’s intellect that was published by the same journal. Although Azhari Moyal claims she doesn’t intend “to enter into the heart of the debate or to prove that women’s rights are equal [to those of men],” this is precisely what she does by challenging the arguments of her opponent and also by furnishing her letter with evidence of women’s wide-ranging abilities in the home and in writing. Her letter, with its careful reasoning and literary references, itself stands as a form of evidence of women’s intellectual prowess.