So, dear readers, here we are! Our fancy-pants new website! We hope you like it. There are still kinks being worked out with the old posts we imported and certain pages, but we’re working on them. If you see something, let us know at [email protected]. Have a look around: we have new features and things are a bit more organized here. And, as a reward for our faithful readers who followed us to our new home, here’s a great interview... Read more
Salon details the erosion of Iraqi women’s freedoms under American occupation. Islamic scholars are not down with the female qazis in India that we reported on last week. ABC News interviews Saudi Arabia’s first female CFO. Via Progressive Muslima News. Reuters investigates prostitution in Nigeria. And the BBC reports on Islamic crackdowns on sex workers there. A women-only beach in Egypt allows women to swim away from men’s eyes. The Turkish Daily News looks at powerful Turkish women through the... Read more
Knowing that my regular post day, Thursday, was quickly sneaking up on me, I frantically searched the internet for something to cover. I used the keywords “Muslim women”, “media,” “news,” and finally “Pakistani women” (trying to cover South Asia). And the majority of the stories I came across in news were very negative. Most of the coverage was on the absolute pitiful and frightful situations of Muslim women in Muslim countries. Whether it be acid burnings and being set on... Read more
This was written by Amal and originally published at Improvisations: Arab Woman Progressive Voice. In Lebanese singer Nawal el Zoghbi’s latest video clip, “Albi es’alou” (ask my heart), the director wanted a really sexy man to play the singer’s love interest. Of course, there are the usual ways of sexing men in these video clips: you surround them with expensive cars, planes, mansions, women, suits, then you place them in fantasy locations that bear no resemblance to the Arab world... Read more
As salaamu ‘alaikum and hello to you all! I’m Ethar and even though my name has been on the list of contributors for over a month now, I’ve been in Yemen for the past six weeks so this is my very first post. I’m very happy to join the MMW team as their Arabic speaking ‘Middle East correspondent.’ I am a Saudi born, Egyptian raised and western educated 21 year old. I graduated from the American University in Cairo with... Read more
This was written by Eman and originally appeared at Hatshepsut. A while back I went into the Diwan bookstore in Zamalek only to find out that a book that I had spent around two weeks proof reading for publication is finally out (though as expected my name is not mentioned in it). This book is a compilation of all the issues of Al Fataah (The Young Woman), the first ever Women’s magazine in Egypt (and most probably in the Arab... Read more
I can’t believe I forgot to put this in the Friday Links, but it’ll work better this way, anyway. Sister Amani is trying to win a scholarship contest by having her scholarship entry get the most views. Here’s her blog post: Assalam Alaikum, As you may know, I am a mother of two, and I’m currently pursuing my MA in English. My husband and I, have to pay for my tuition out of pocket, as we refuse to accept loans... Read more
The Third International Conference on Islamic Feminism will take place in Barcelona, Spain, in October. Anyone going? Anyone want to generously donate enough money to send me? I am thisclose to selling a kidney to be able to go! Via Samaha. Taleban militants have burned down more girls’ schools in northwest Pakistan. Via TalkIslam. Al-Ahram speaks with Nadeen Shams about her new film Have We Met Before? There is still little support for child victims of sexual violence in Afghanistan.... Read more
MMW thanks HijabStyle for the links! With the Olympics in full swing, I thought I’d take a quick peek at the way in which media was presenting the participation Muslim women, if they were at all. Initially, while watching the opening ceremony, I heard tidbits of references to the women competitors from Muslim countries such as Pakistan, noting the number of Muslim women competing. So I thought I’d go searching on the internet to see just how the participation of... Read more
Sexual harassment is a problem that affects women in all societies. Muslim societies are no exception. Where there is patriarchy, there will be sexual harassment. In both Muslim and non-Muslim societies, the “solution” to sexual harassment has always fallen on women. “Don’t dress in revealing clothes, don’t flirt, don’t stay out alone, etc.” Even at my alma mater, the rape and sexual harassment prevention posters are in the women’s bathrooms only, and the focus is on women’s behavior instead of... Read more
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