When I started to read a recent NPR story about an Iraqi woman married to an American sergeant, I had to double check to make sure that I was actually reading a news story and not a piece of Orientalist fiction. “From The Iraq War, A Troubled Romance In America” is filled with so many Orientalist cliches that even a reporter from Fox News would be happy. The article starts out with the usual physical description of Muslim woman’s dress.... Read more
MMW‘s Friday Links last week had within it three links about Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani (below), who has appeared in the recent Hollywood film Body of Lies. Apparently, from the news reports, it seems that Farahani has created quite a stir within Iran, or as the LA Times reported some “Middle East-style intrigue”. Middle East-style intrigue? What is Middle East-style intrigue? Are they referring to the issue some Iranians are having with her appearance in an American film? The comment... Read more
The third season of Little Mosque on the Prairie has just started up, so I figured it was time to have a discussion about it. Actually, I’ll be honest and admit that really, the reason I’m talking about it is that I wrote a paper on it for a class on popular culture last week, and figured I’d multi-task by tweaking the paper to post on MMW as well. But still. Although Little Mosque has been discussed on MMW a... Read more
Al Ahram Weekly looks at the sexual assaults during Eid in Egypt. Two suspects are being tried currently. The BBC interviews a female suicide bombers in Gaza. Via Arabisto. The Herald writes more about the history of women in suicide bombing. More Indonesians against the anti-pornography bill. On November 24-25, the Second Ministerial Meeting on Women, organized by the Organization of the Islamic Conference will be held in Cairo. Women Without Borders will launch Sisters Against Violence Extremism (SAVE) to... Read more
This post was written by Marwa El Naggar and previously published at alt.muslim and IslamOnline. There’s something not quite right about seeing a citation for One Thousand and One Nights in a bibliography for a novel about the Lady Aishah, Prophet Muhammad’s famous wife. What it says about an author who would, in writing about the early Muslim community, use the collection of stories that has given us Aladdin, Ali Baba (he of the forty thieves), Sinbad the sailor, and... Read more
A few months ago, my mother gave me the CD of a Muslimah who she saw rapping at a masjid in Philadelphia. The CD is titled Muslimas with Attitude and the artist is Miss Undastood (link to her MySpace page here). She’s still a relatively new rapper who has released a few mixed-track CDs. Listening to Muslimah, as well as some of the tracks from her latest, State of the Ummah Address, I felt frustrated and happy, but mostly frustrated.... Read more
I’ve always loved viewing art, especially at museums, though I’ve never considered myself savvy enough to ‘get it,’ always resorting to a laywoman’s interpretation. However, I’ve learned that regardless of what the artist intended in his/her piece, the observer/viewer/art connoisseur will see what s/he wants. Therefore, art can be a very controversial arena for expressing oneself, because the message of the piece never seems to be in anyone’s control. Mind you, is it ever meant to be? So then how... Read more
Muslimah Media Watch thanks Ali Eteraz for the tip! A few weeks ago, several Western outlets featured an exposé on Yasmin Fostok (pictured below), the daughter of infamous cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed. And when I say exposé, I’m not kidding: the majority of outlets that ran the story ran it with accompanying pictures of her arching her back against a stripper pole or posing in clothing that revealed a great deal of skin (not to mention cleavage). One of these... Read more
A female fan jumps onstage and kisses Tamer Hosni during a concert in Kuwait, shutting down the concert early and outraging Kuwaiti parliament members. Eid celebrations in a Cairo suburb were marred after several women were sexually assaulted. A woman and her husband are harassed by three members of the Saudi Commission for the Promotion of Vice and Virtue. Iran plans to begin manufacturing and selling cars designed specifically for women. They’ll have “soft, feminine colours.” (rolling eyes) More from... Read more
This was written by Amal Awad and originally published in The Sydney Morning Herald. As I spot one veiled cliche after another in the bookshop, I realise that when it comes to Muslims in print, if kidnapped children and enslavement were the flavour of the ’80s and ’90s, honour killings are the leitmotif of the Noughties. Every Muslim-related book must have a beginning, an honour killing, and an end. And if there’s one thing Dan Brown’s success demonstrates, it’s that... Read more
Muslimah Media Watch
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