From Egypt's Naked Blogger to "Tahrir Girl": An Uproar on Gender VIolence of all Forms

Beating a Female Protestor in Cairo

The infamous images of the anonymous "Tahrir Girl" have struck more than a nerve with protesters and revolutionaries. According to university professor Daniel Martin Varisco, the image expands to greater realms of the human experience, touching on gender and institutional oppression and violence. Varisco sees the violence of the image as no loss oppressive or demeaning than pornography. "On a gender scale the only real difference between this image and a simulated sex attack in a pornographic shot is that the woman is acting for money in the latter. But in both cases the message is that men are the ones who control women."

For the love of Linguistics: I am my words.

Have you ever seen a romance between a comma and a dot? Probably not? Well, this language-obsessed blogger shares a deep love for words and language that expands beyond narrative and meaning. "In fact, commas and dots are the best couples I know of. Both are located in the same position, but you see, each of them knows when to leave and when to stay. If they meet – my lord, if they ever meet: sheer ugliness. The splendor of the chase, that hard to get act: the kind of relation a dot and a comma share together."

Best Of 2011

If you love countdowns and "Best of" lists, you're most definitely going to love this! Wafa from Saudi Arabia lists the Best countdowns from 2011, referencing publications such as National Geographic, Foreign Policy and many others.