In 2003, Mernissi was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award, along with Susan Sontag.[25] Mernissi presented her speech, The Cowboy or Sinbad? covering the topic of globalization and was recognized for her pensive take considering both the issue and effects of culture.[26] In 2004, she was awarded the Erasmus Prize, alongside Sadik Al-Asm and Abdolkarim Soroush.[27] For this award, she was recognized for her sociocultural impact since it was dedicated to "Religion and Modernity".[28] In 2017, The Middle East Studies Association created the Fatima Mernissi Book Award to "recognize outstanding scholarship in studies of gender, sexuality, and women’s lived experience".[29]