Joyce Carol Oates sparks Twitter storm over Egypt remarks

Author Joyce Carol Oates has sparked a social media ruckus with a series of tweets linking rape culture to Islam, drawing a stream of responses from other writers and users of the site.

Oates is not the first high-profile writer to stumble into the political arena, but her choice of timing, topic and media were particularly incendiary.

Oates’s 140-word political tweet-bombs began by remarking: “Something dispiriting about ‘Brotherhood’ political parties – wonder what it is.”

And drove on with “Where 99.3% of women report having been sexually harassed & rape is epidemic – Egypt – natural to inquire: what’s the predominant religion?”

Guardian, 8 July 2013