This was written by Frau Sally Benz and originally published at Feministe. Earlier this week, GRITtv posted an interview with a woman from RAWA, the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan. I wanted to post the video for you all to watch and just say a few things that came to mind as I was watching. For those who can’t watch the video, here’s a quick summary: Zoya (that’s not her real name) talks about how RAWA predicted that... Read more
The American Spectator talks about how “un-Islamic” the niqab is. (eyeroll) Meanwhile, Tariq Ramadan believes France’s attempt to ban the niqab reflects growing self-doubt in their society. The National and Sheikha Fatima agree: women in the U.A.E. have come a long way, baby. How Iraqi women are paying for their “liberation.” News from The Feminist School on Iranian women activists and the Family Protection Bill. Britain’s Baroness Warsi was egged last week. By Muslims. (sigh) Iran sentences Kurdish activist Zeynab... Read more
A recent decision to auction a “Burqa Barbie” for a Save the Children fundraising campaign (“to educate children in conflict areas around the world”) has been making its rounds online this past week. Of the 500 different Barbies designed by Eliana Lorena, it was only natural for the culturally inappropriate (Islamic!) “Burqa Barbie” to be singled out as a cause for uproar. (I was interested in seeing what the other 499 Barbies looked like, as I find cultural dress from... Read more
It’s been a little while since we last discussed Little Mosque on the Prairie, a Canadian television sitcom about a Muslim community in a small (fictional) town. We’ve written before about its handling of the question of separate mosque entrances for men and women; the character of Sarah, a white Muslim woman; an interview with the actress who plays Rayyan; the reaction to Layla’s crush on a boy at the mosque; and a couple general overviews of the show from... Read more
This was originally published at Cycads. Once a week, I meet with people studying gender in the Middle East and we talk about the assigned articles we’ve read during the week. Last week, it was about sexuality and homophobia. Emerging from our discussion on LGBT rights in the Middle East (particularly in Lebanon and Palestine) is the question why many Muslim feminists have failed to include sexuality rights on their agenda. Not one, but two people answered by saying that... Read more
Reading Marnia Lazreg’s new book Questioning the Veil (Princeton University Press, 2009) was at the same time a useful and annoying experience. The book is useful because it compiles every single argument that has already been brought against women wearing the veil, from the stupidest arguments (i.e, it prevents women from “the coquettish desire” of wearing earrings) to the “scientific” ones (i.e, veiling has “potentially deleterious psychological effects”). The book is also annoying because these same weak arguments rely on... Read more
Let’s cut to the point: no matter how hard anyone tries to make it deep and philosophical, the word “beauty pageant” will always refer to looks. As variable and relative the definition of “beautiful” might be for a lot of people, some of those who work as beauticians and fashion experts put standards upon which beauty depends. This is applied in all kinds of beauty pageants, including the 2009 Miss Arab World pageant, a new pageant that is causing lots... Read more
Salam waleykum, readers! First of all, we’d like to send a big thank you to all of our faithful readers and everyone who voted for us in the Brass Crescent Awards! We won Best Female Blog and received an honorable mention for Best Group Blog! This is the first year we’ve actually won, and your support (in a blog award and every day) means a lot to us. MMW is undergoing a number of small but significant changes, so we... Read more
Muslimah Media Watch would like to wish our readers a happy and blessed Eid al Adha! Read more
ABC’s Lama Hasan reports on her abaya issues from Hajj. Couldn’t think of anything more pressing related to women’s issues and Hajj? Huh. SAAYA hosts a program to educate Muslim women in Tamil Nadu about government welfare programs. Hijabtrendz reflects on her experience of reporting the news in a headscarf. A woman in Syria breaks gender barriers by owning a car wash. Muslim women at Scotland’s biggest mosque are pushing for the right to have their opinions included in the... Read more
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