Named from an Afghan saying that “However tall the mountain, there’s always a road,” However Tall the Mountain: A Dream, Eight Girls, & A Journey Home is the true story of a project conceived by the book’s author, Awista Ayub, to bring teenaged girls from Afghanistan to the United States for soccer training. The story follows the eight girls’ experiences in the United States as well as in Afghanistan before and after the trip. The story itself is interesting and... Read more
Several weeks after Eid al-Fitr, it’s a good time to analyze the recent media embroglio about women and Eid prayers in South Africa. The ways in which South African Muslims interact with the media has changed drastically in the last few years with the rise of social media, and this has reflected itself especially in what has been called “the desktop gender jihad” (women using the internet to fight, lobby and advocate for their rights). In the weeks following Eid... Read more
The Real Girl’s Guide to Everything Else, Strike.TV’s peppy new Web series, first struck me as ludicrous. Fast-paced and low-budget, it’s riddled with plot holes and inconsistencies, becoming more fantastical as the first season progresses. The writing lacks depth, the characters lack development, and the show’s thesis whacks you across the head with startling regularity. But the message itself is bold, sharp, and significant. Season One, consisting of six chapters less than ten minutes apiece, starts with Rasha (Robin Dalea),... Read more
Women’s Voices Now is a non-profit organization that was founded in January 2010 and is based in New York City. Their mission is to “empower women and give voice to the struggle for civil, economic and political rights.” Currently, they’re accepting submissions for a film festival, “Women’s Voices from the Muslim World: A Short-Film Festival.” Regular submissions close November 1, 2010, but some short films are already up at the website. Here’s one of the films, named “Girl’s Talk:” Check... Read more
If you haven’t already nominated Muslimah Media Watch for Best Female Blog, we’d love it if you’d head over and cast your nomination now! Nominations end today, so hurry! Read more
MuslimMatters highlights Muslim women who are trying to have it all–and balance it all. A Muslim woman who was fired for not wearing a headscarf by her boss in the U.K. has been awarded over £13,500 for wrongful dismissal. The Hindu interviews Shelina Zahra Janmohamed on her work as an author. The New York Times profiles Nihad Alaeddin, a legendary Syrian actress. Hajia Marie Issaka, Midwife of the Bongo Health Centre and a member of the Federation of Muslim women... Read more
It reads as if the pages were lifted right from the script of Mad Men. Dozens of eager women primping and pinning every loose strand of hair into place, applying the last touch of lipstick, giving each other catty glares and then waiting, like sitting ducks, to be called upon by the handsome leading male character. Only this isn’t 1960s New York City, where the ability to lure males to bed means notoriety and these aren’t a couple of secretaries... Read more
Recently, Ahmedinejad’s closest aide, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, made comments that Iran must work to fight against the oppression of women where the religious framework of Islam would allow it. The Guardian article calls women’s rights a divisive topic in Iran, which is true. However, the sexist laws mentioned are those that involve the requirement to cover following the 1979 Islamic revolution, failing to mention inequalities in other areas, such as personal status laws. This reduces the revolutionary work of Iranian... Read more
With articles in Der Spiegel, Rue89, The Telegraph, and a YouTube video in recent weeks, the two self-described web-activists called Niqabitch are making a splash in the French (and European) media landscape. As they said themselves in the Rue89 article, throwing on a burqa in protest of France’s burqa ban would be “too simple.” They wanted to see what would happen by mixing things up a bit and throwing together a niqab with a miniskirt. So the ladies of MMW... Read more
A Map of Home by Randa Jarrar is a book that does not fall into a category easily. A Map of Home provides the vivid portrait of a girl, who is Muslim, who is Palestinian and Egyptian and Greek and from Kuwait and born in America, who fulfills her parents’ expectations and dashes them fiercely. Randa Jarrar’s first novel is the story of Nidali, told in first person, through her childhood and adolescence. From the beginning of the novel, with... Read more
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