Two thirds of the population in the Middle East are under 25 years old and though more of them than ever have university degrees there arent enough jobs to go round. Theyre having a collective quarter-life crisis. In the months before turning 25 herself Allegra Stratton set out to meet them. All of them. This is the account of her journey to Beirut Amman Cairo Dubai Kuwait City and Damascus moving with the Middle Eastern ripple of change: Iraqs first post-Saddam elections Lebanons Cedar Revolution Mubaraks decision to hold multi-candidate elections and Kuwait giving women the vote. Prodding and probing she acquires a taste for rehashed hip hop gets locked into a painters studio sits at the back of Pop Idol auditions and in the wrong seats at a football match. She saves a young businesswoman from a fatal spelling mistake and meets the regions most famous single mother. What she is determined not to do is ask patronising questions about the headscarf. But then she meets the Muhajababes. With their black sheer headscarves worn with tight clothes high heels and make up these young women are repackaging Islam for their generation and saying its OK to be sexy cool and devout. Visiting mosques the offices of EMI Arabia and university campuses Allegra finds out whats really going on on Arab Street.
