SEX AND THE CITY 2: ORIENTALIST BOOGALOO Sara, Yusra, Safiyyah, and Fatemeh are here for your MMW SATC2 breakdown! We’re here for a frank discussion about the movie—so take note that there may be some serious spoilers after the jump. Ladies, start your engines! (more…) Read more
After reading Ali Eteraz’s Children of Dust, I bemoaned the lack of examples in literature—and even in the public discourse—of healthy relationships and interactions between Muslim men and women. In films, literature, the blogosphere, and even in the everyday interactions of Muslims, interactions (especially romantic relationships) are often presented in a negative light: Muslim women must accept arranged marriages as a matter of course, relationships between men and women are devoid of romantic attraction, falling in love with someone is... Read more
New voices are invading the airwaves in Southern California. The voices of local Muslim activists, community leaders, scholars and public speakers have come together for One Legacy Radio, the first English-speaking Islamic radio station in the U.S. It’s leaving listeners with high expectations as it aims to provide “thought-provoking material which inspires spiritual reflection and ultimately closeness to Allah.” The station features many programs to “enrich the Islamic spiritual experience.” Two such programs expected to deliver on these promises are... Read more
In Egypt, female candidates for the mid-term Shura Council elections want more support. Shazia Awan has been named the U.K.’s best female Asian entrepreneur. Saudi Arabia’s religious police have arrested 10 “emo” women for allegedly causing a disturbance in a coffee shop. A Nigerian blogger responds to the Yarima-polygyny debate. The Washington Post writes about mosque “pray-ins” against gender segregation. Bahraini women married to foreigners have vowed to step in during parliamentary elections to pressure the government to amend the... Read more
Before watching The Stoning of Soraya M., I had already formed an opinion of it as “objectifying” and “misrepresenting” Muslim women, as a reaction to a recent spate of “save the Muslim damsel in distress” media like that which surrounds the European burqa ban debacle. The movie, however, turned out to be powerful in its message; incredibly moving and certainly not a damsel in distress tale. Instead, it is about extraordinary womanhood and moral courage in the face of injustice. The... Read more
“We have no girls here that work with their degrees. Our girls are pampered. Everything she wants is at her service.” “Assuming I agree that you work, what would we do about your beauty? Your job is taking care of my heart …isn’t it enough that you’re the president of the republic of my heart?” Activists protest Iskandar’s song in Beirut. Image via Alexandra Sandels/Los Angeles Times. These words are from Lebanese singer Mohammed Iskandar’s latest single Jomhouriyet Albi (“The... Read more
Rima Fakih has become an unlikely member of the Islamophobic grab-bag of images. Joining the images of oppressed burqa-wearers and angry men with beards, Miss USA’s victory has become a part of another far-fetched conspiracy. The best part is that we are actually seeing a ridiculous debate about the legitimacy of her victory, and whether or not it is evidence of a secret, home-grown Islamic uprising. In an article initially entitled “Is Miss USA a trailblazer or Hezbollah spy?” CNN... Read more
This was written by Sabria S. Jawhar and was originally published in the Saudi Gazette. Two weeks ago I was interviewed on an Australian television news program about the wave of proposed burqa bans in Europe, Canada, and now, apparently, in Australia. No one should be surprised about my opinion of the whole thing: It’s dumb. My argument to George Negus, the interviewer at SBS, was simply that someone in a position of authority should have the wherewithal to ask... Read more
This is what happens when you paint niqabs and the women who wear them as evil. Cultural issues keep Arab-American women away from health care. Iran has sentenced in absentia award-winning women’s rights activist Shadi Sadr. A Saudi woman gives a morality officer a taste of his own medicine. More here. Miss USA link dump! Freep, AltMuslimah, elan, The Daily Beast, Comment is free, The American Muslim, The National, The Huffington Post, Newsweek. The Dallas Post profiles one successful Afghan... Read more
At the end of April, on the Swiss German-language television show Arena, one of the “rising stars” of the “Muslim scene” in Switzerland, convert Nicholas Abdullah Blancho, was present. With Blancho was an acolyte in his CCIS/IZRS (Conseil central islamique suisse/Islamisches Zentralrats Schweiz) organization, a certain young Swiss convert of Kurdish Alevi origin named Ferah U. While Mr. Blancho’s presence made headlines in last week’s Hebdo (where the title asked if he was the “Bin Laden of Bienne”), Ferah’s presence also... Read more
Muslimah Media Watch
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In