Meet the Arab women creators breaking through male-dominated spaces

When Hala and I first started working with YouTube creators in the Middle East and North Africa over a decade ago, we were happy to see a good number of women-led channels in the Arabic speaking corner of the internet. Like Eman El Emam, a medical graduate, turned content creator who helped simplify complex medical topics for every day people or Hessa Al Awad in Saudi Arabia, whose videos about self-care helped single fathers in Saudi Arabia look after their daughters, or Hatoon Al Qadi whose satirical social commentary captured the attention of millions across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

But the number of large women-led channels lagged far behind the number of channels led by men. And that’s why YouTube Batala was born. YouTube Batala (batala being the Arabic word for heroine) started out in 2017 as an initiative to spotlight Arabic-speaking women-led channels. This was a program by women in MENA for women in MENA. This year and for its fourth edition, Batala is now a mentorship program for women creators.

As we put together the list of mentor creators, it dawned on us: these creators and many others, are actually some of the many women breaking through communities usually dominated by men-led channels. We caught up with one of these creators, Rima Alosta - a gaming content creator, on what it’s like to be one of the few women breaking through in a male-dominated space.

When you first started out, there weren’t many women in gaming. Did that make you second guess starting a gaming channel?

Of course, it was quite challenging for me because there were many foreign gaming content creators and there were lots of men in the Arab world who had gaming channels. But what mattered is that I decided to open up a new avenue for women in gaming in the Arab world and to be the first to create gaming content. That meant that the more I succeed, the more others can as well.

What were some of the challenges that you came across as your channel grew?

For me it was publishing a video with better quality than the one before it - challenging yourself is often the hardest and best challenge I faced in my journey on YouTube. Another challenge was building a team that believes in my ideas and are experts in social media while also believing in the importance of content that has purpose.

What has been one of the biggest surprises in your gaming career on YouTube?

The best surprise was how open and accepting people were of a girl who games and how much my audience connected with me with all my simplicity. Also, how much the YouTube team believed in me and supported me throughout my journey on YouTube.

What’s one video you want to make but haven’t yet?

It would actually be a series of educational videos for Arab women to help them get started in gaming content creation on YouTube from start to finish.

Finally, if any woman is thinking of starting a channel in a community dominated by men, what would you tell her?

YOU CAN!