Mona Eltahawy was born August 1st 1967 in Port Said, Egypt. At the age of 7, she and her family moved to the UK and eight years later, moved again to Saudi Arabia. She returned to Egypt to study at the American University in Cairo, where she graduated in 1990 before continuing on to a Masters program in Mass Communications. She worked as a news reporter through the 1990s before moving to the United States in 2003. From 2003 to 2004, she worked as the managing editor of the Arabic language version of Women’s eNews, which covers women’s issues around the world. While covering the protests in Tahrir Square, she was arrested and detained over night. Upon release, she had been beaten and accused those that held her of sexual assault. Mona Eltahawy was a strong critic of the Muslim Brotherhood and Mubarak, in addition to the misogyny found in Arab cultures. She wrote a book, Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs A Sexual Revolution, detailing her cultural critiques of the misogyny in Arab society. In 2011, she received her citizenship to the US, where is she lives today in New York City, working as a freelance journalist and social commentator. She was named number 30 on Arabian Business’ 100 Most Powerful Arab Women in 2012. She describes herself as a secular, radical feminist Muslim