menu_open
Arwa Mahdawi

Arwa Mahdawi

The Guardian

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

Kamala Harris still needs to define herself – but she is the ultimate anti-Trump candidate

A week has always been a long time in politics, but this might have been the longest week in Kamala Harris’s life. While Joe Biden is still...

yesterday 3

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

‘Grocery store tourism’: why a country’s secrets can be found in the snack aisle

If you teleported me to a foreign city for a day and gave me a choice between a trip to the supermarket or a museum, I’d almost always choose the...

wednesday 20

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

Why is Bella Hadid in the headlines? Because it distracts from the hell on Earth that is Gaza

On Wednesday, Benjamin Netanyahu is having the red carpet rolled out for him in Washington DC. The Israeli prime minister, who is propped up by...

23.07.2024 20

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

Sorry JD Vance, but being a ‘childless cat lady’ is actually not a bad thing

Here’s a fun little fact for you. Did you know that, despite all evidence to the contrary, the US is run by “childless cat ladies”? Forget the...

20.07.2024 50

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

Forget the 5am starts! Night owls like me possess the real secret of success

My fellow night owls, grab a strong cup of coffee and gather around: I have great news. For a long time, our kind has been unfairly maligned....

17.07.2024 20

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

20,000 female condoms, 200,000 male condoms, 10,000 dental dams: will Paris 2024 be the sexiest Olympics ever?

Sex may not be an official discipline at the Olympics, but it sure looks like Paris is readying itself for vigorous indoor sports. The Covid-related...

16.07.2024 10

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

Did Donald Trump just win the election?

You’ve almost certainly seen the pictures by now. You’ve probably seen them a hundred times. A fist in the air, blood dripping from his ear, an...

15.07.2024 20

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

The far right’s crusade against porn is a crusade against progress

The lines between art and obscenity aren’t always clear; pornography can be hard to define. “I know it when I see it,” the late US supreme court...

13.07.2024 20

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

Why did Delta Airlines tweet that the Palestinian flag is ‘terrifying’?

There’s been a huge increase in scary airline incidents recently. Last week, there was yet another one when passengers on a Delta flight from Boston...

12.07.2024 10

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

Why do politicians hate ‘the elite’ – when they are the elite?

A quick quiz for you: define “the elite”. Perhaps you answered with something along the lines of “people with superior abilities”? Or maybe...

10.07.2024 40

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

Harry is the divisive duke – and Meghan is making jam. Can the Sussexes escape their ‘flop era’?

When life gives you lemons, make luxury lemon marmalade and sell it to your celebrity friends. That’s what Meghan Markle seems to be doing anyway....

09.07.2024 10

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

It’s no surprise a Newsweek writer panned Taylor Swift for being single and childless

Poor Taylor Swift. The pop star is a billionaire and one of the most successful people on the planet. She has an army of devoted fans who happily...

06.07.2024 20

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

What do Rudy Giuliani’s Amazon purchases reveal? Appallingly bad taste – and even worse morals

As the ancient proverb goes, a man’s Amazon purchase history is a window into his soul. And Rudy Giuliani’s soul, it would seem, is crammed full...

03.07.2024 6

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

Joe Biden is taking advice from his son, Hunter. This does not inspire confidence

The moment Joe Biden walked off the debate stage last Thursday night, the clock started ticking. There was a small window of time after the...

02.07.2024 20

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

Perimenopause finally gets more attention – because there’s something in it for men

If you had asked 20-year-old me to explain what “perimenopause” was, I would have stared at you blankly. Honestly, I would have struggled to even...

29.06.2024 8

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

Nearly 21,000 children are missing in Gaza. And there’s no end to this nightmare

Dead or dismembered Palestinians don’t seem to shock anyone any more. A couple of hundred killed over here, dozens burned to death over there, a...

27.06.2024 60

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

Why are Swifties and Charli XCX fans at war? I blame Big Tech

Being a geriatric millennial means I was born too late to take advantage of cheap house prices and too early to become an influencer. I was, however,...

26.06.2024 20

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

‘Jesus is my saviour, Trump is my president.’ Why the religious right is rooting for a convicted conman

What were you doing at 1.22am on Friday morning? I was engaged in my favourite hobby: sleeping. Donald Trump, it seems, was also busy with his...

25.06.2024 9

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

Caitlin Clark’s name has been used to push bigotry – and she finally pushed back

You don’t need to know anything about basketball to have heard of Caitlin Clark. She’s a record-breaking superstar who has helped take women’s...

22.06.2024 10

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

How much does Renoir suck as an artist? Well, Trump’s a fan …

Donald Trump has criminally bad taste in just about everything. He orders his steaks well done and drowns them in ketchup. His Manhattan penthouse is...

19.06.2024 30

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

Will Elon Musk’s incessant innuendo ever catch up with him?

Elon Musk is a boob. The brash billionaire is also, as he can’t stop telling the world, embarrassingly obsessed with breasts – so much so that...

18.06.2024 30

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

Far-right Republicans’ latest target? No-fault divorce

They’ve come after abortion. They’ve come after birth control. They’ve come after IVF. Now it looks suspiciously like far-right Republicans...

15.06.2024 80

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

Consider the plight of that poor oppressed majority: heterosexuals

Spare a thought for the poor heterosexual: a wretched creature, shunned and marginalised despite living in a world built around their lifestyle...

12.06.2024 6

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

I tried to solve a murder – and almost had a nervous breakdown

Admit it: you have listened to so many true crime podcasts that you think you could solve a murder. That was how I felt, anyway. Several years ago,...

11.06.2024 10

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

A male birth control gel is one step closer to reality, and that’s worth celebrating

Humans have managed to put men on the moon, clone mammals and develop nuclear bombs powerful enough to end civilization in a matter of minutes. One...

08.06.2024 20

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

Maya Hawke is honest about her privilege. Why are other nepo babies so defensive?

Congratulations to the actor Maya Hawke, who has just done something few of her peers seem capable of: acknowledge that one of the secrets of her...

05.06.2024 10

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

Elon Musk is cosying up to Donald Trump. Haven’t we suffered enough?

What happens when two of the most influential and insufferable people in the universe join forces? Looks like we’re about to find out. Rumour has it...

04.06.2024 20

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

Should we follow Lily Allen – and let our partner control our smartphone?

An annoying thing about being a parent is that you have to consistently model good behaviour. You can’t just shove crisps in your mouth and stare at...

29.05.2024 30

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

Lady Gaga performed on stage with Covid. Did we learn nothing from the pandemic?

Should you go into work when you’re sick with a contagious virus? Lady Gaga has spoken and the answer, it seems, is “sure, why not?” During a...

28.05.2024 20

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

The Week in Patriarchy Louisiana descends into dystopia with historic law on abortion pills

Louisiana is not a great place to get pregnant. If you need an abortion, a near-total ban means it’s almost impossible to get one, even in cases of...

25.05.2024 60

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

Ivanka Trump looks like the comeback kid – and we should all be afraid

Forget polls or statistical modelling – if you want to know what is going to happen in the US elections, may I suggest consulting the...

22.05.2024 20

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

Sex-positive feminism had its moment – and now it has been replaced by voluntary celibacy

Get thee to a nunnery! Apparently it’s the hottest place to be. While we still very much live in a sex-saturated world, voluntary celibacy is having...

21.05.2024 60

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

The Week in Patriarchy Harrison Butker’s misogynistic graduation speech shows the bigots are winning

Imagine for a moment that that you are a young woman who has spent more than $100,000 on your university degree. After four years of hard work...

18.05.2024 40

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

What’s up with ChatGPT’s new sexy persona?

16.05.2024 40

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

Can you be both straight and queer? You can if you’re Dannii Minogue

I have some inspiring news for heterosexuals who may be struggling with their lifestyle choices: Dannii Minogue has bravely come out as straight....

15.05.2024 50

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

My Palestinian keffiyeh is a symbol of my identity. I should not be afraid to wear it in public

What’s black and white and a threat all over? A keffiyeh, of course. It may look like a harmless piece of fabric, but it’s actually a weapon of...

14.05.2024 50

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

The Week in Patriarchy The abdication of two beauty queens hints at ugly truth about Miss USA

Drama is afoot in the pageant community, after both Miss USA and Miss Teen USA recently handed back their crowns and issued cryptic statements...

11.05.2024 30

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

Guardian Opinion cartoon Nicola Jennings on Rishi Sunak, desperately trying to look on the bright side – cartoon

08.05.2024 50

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

I hoped Peppa might be a role model for my daughter. But that little piggy is just a brat

When I first moved to the US from the UK, having an English accent was an asset. Back in the pre-Brexit era, it signalled sophistication and...

08.05.2024 30

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

Could you get by on a measly $43,000 a month? It seems Rudy Giuliani can’t

‘Bankruptcy” is a surprisingly amorphous term. For poor people, it means not having any money. For corporations and the super-wealthy it means a...

07.05.2024 30

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

The Week in Patriarchy The adultification of children has consequences from Palestine to the US

Trapped in a bullet-ridden car in Gaza City, surrounded by her dead relatives, six-year-old Hind Rajab pleaded with the Red Crescent for help. That...

04.05.2024 40

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

It’s not stranger danger you should be afraid of, it’s video doorbell derangement syndrome

One of my many guilty pleasures is lurking on my former home’s Facebook group. The New York apartment complex, which houses the population of a...

01.05.2024 30

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

Guardian Opinion cartoon Martin Rowson’s May Day: a message for the politicians of Britain – cartoon

30.04.2024 50

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

It’s Mark Zuckerberg as we’ve never seen him! But what’s really behind the new look?

A vibe shift is afoot in Silicon Valley. For aeons, the movers and shakers of the tech industry signalled that they were serious people working on...

30.04.2024 50

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

Why hasn’t the US called for an investigation into mass graves in Gaza?

Did you know that the Palestinians are the very first people in the world to ethnically cleanse and mass murder themselves? I know it sounds weird,...

30.04.2024 30

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

The Week in Patriarchy Discussing Sonia Sotomayor’s retirement is not sexist – it’s strategic

A month ago Josh Barro (a man) at the Atlantic wrote a piece headlined Sonia Sotomayor Should Retire Now. Around the same time the Guardian’s Mehdi...

27.04.2024 40

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

Is Connor Hubbard the most boring man on the internet?

Connor Hubbard might be the most boring man on the internet. The 29-year-old dresses like a generic white guy, lives in a nice but unremarkable house...

26.04.2024 20

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

The Trump family’s latest side hustle: Melania’s selling $245 Mother’s Day necklaces

If your husband was a legally adjudicated sexual predator who cheated on you with an adult film star shortly after you gave birth to his son, and then...

25.04.2024 100

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

Guardian Opinion cartoon Martin Rowson on Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda mission accomplished – cartoon

24.04.2024 10

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

I tried to become a local hero by rescuing a cat. I failed comprehensively

A couple of weeks ago I went to go see a woman about a cat. The woman was my neighbour (we’ll call her L) and she had lost her tabby, Karma....

24.04.2024 20

The Guardian

Arwa Mahdawi

94d5f4b880986d6415db76fa284d6e3a