Soon to take place on March 25 & 26, ArabNet 2010 is the “first international conference for the Arab web industry, bringing together leaders from across the MENA, Europe and Silicon Valley to discuss cutting-edge trends and emerging opportunities. Through pitch sessions, the conference will feature the region’s brightest ideas and most promising Internet start-ups, and connect them with the internet ecosystem: incubators, angel investors, venture capitalists, established Internet companies, NGO’s and influential bloggers.”

So it’s an excellent opportunity for entrepreneurs who have brilliant ideas for Internet companies to pitch their ideas to potential investors. Have you been sitting on a great idea? Do you have the next Yamli.com or Facebook up your sleeve? Remember, even Google started as an idea that two college boys had.

Now, to the important part. As you have guessed by now, I am a feminist, and my readings in feminism have taught me to always look at such a terrific opportunity through a gender lens. My first impression is that most of the submissions will be made by men. Why? Many reasons. 1) More men study techie majors in college than women because of the imbalance in perception of gendered jobs. 2) More men want to be entrepreneurs than women because men are seen as the bread-winners, the money-makers, and women are encouraged to have a steady job or stay at home and get an allowance from their fathers or husbands. 3) Although completely untrue and unfounded, people in our region generally tend to think that brilliant ideas (start-ups especially) come from men, not women. Save for Oprah Winfrey, the majority of start-up billionaire stories are those of men. Think about it. In our region, also men come to mind, although I immediately think of Razan Khatib from Jordan as a pioneering woman entrepreneur. And finally 4) as women, we are raised to believe we are not good enough. Now this might be a hard concept to stomach, but it’s true. Often, we are under the illusion that women believe they can be as good as men, especially if we are middle-class, college-educated women. But they don’t.

Anyway, all of this to say that I would like to support any young Arab woman who would like to make a pitch to ArabNet 2010. I have some years of experience in start-ups and business plan writing, and I can give you a pep talk! Simply get in touch. I also invite all experienced techie & business women who would like to join me in supporting young women to raise their hands (i.e. leave a comment) so that we can raise more support & encourage more women to make a pitch.