Friday Links — March 14, 2008

Last updated on: January 21, 2012 at 2:39 pm By fatemeh

Muslim feminist perspectives on International Women’s Day. Muslim women in Hyderabad, India, earn income through group cooperatives and microfinancing. Arab News looks at the difficult position of “married spinsters.” Women scholars and activists in Lucknow, India, draft a female-friendly nikahnama. Headscarf barrier lifted for those seeking Swiss citizenship. The Mansoojat Foundation helps put on a fashion show for traditional Saudi Arabian clothing. Arab News discusses the harmful implications of not allowing women to play sports. Radio Farda correspondent Parnaz Azima... Read more

Poetic Justice

Last updated on: December 8, 2011 at 11:35 pm By Muslimah Media Watch

I recently came across what I thought of as a beautiful poem, entitled I Am Woman – Celebrate Me, written by Canadian Muslim feminist and activist, Raheel Raza. Addressing issues of sexism, racism, and misogyny among others, this poem was written by Raza and presented to WOMANVOICE, on Dec 6, 2004 to celebrate the International Day of Action for Violence Against Women and to commemorate the 14 women killed at Ecole Polytechnic in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, (aka The Montreal Massacre).... Read more

The Asexual Women of Afghanistan?

Last updated on: December 8, 2011 at 11:35 pm By Muslimah Media Watch

Last month, Zeynab commented on the portrayal of Muslim women in the Vagina Monologues, noting that there are no portrayals of positive sexual experiences by Muslim women. I attended a performance of the Vagina Monologues for the first time last week and noticed her observations. Indeed Muslim women were lacking from the moaning sketch. In “My Vagina Was My Village,” a Bosnian woman in a headscarf described the horrors of rape. But there was another sketch that addressed Muslim women,... Read more

En Vogue: Muslim Women in Fashion News

Last updated on: December 8, 2011 at 11:35 pm By Muslimah Media Watch

A smattering of articles have appeared in newspapers lately, aiming to spread the word about how fashionable Muslim women are. These articles seem to refute the idea that Muslim women are against or unreceptive to fashion: “You can be religious and fashionable! Lots of them are! See?” Is this supposed to be a compliment? Generalizing an entire religious group into a massive worldwide body of snappy dressers? I wrote earlier on the popular perception of Muslim/Middle Eastern women as label... Read more

Article from The Sun shines some light on its own bigotry

Last updated on: December 8, 2011 at 11:35 pm By Muslimah Media Watch

In the post from earlier today, I talked about Muslim women featured in fashion news under the “fetishization” category. So instead of fetishization, how about Muslim women as a big joke? For an International Women’s Day show in Norway, designers created some new styles of burqas, including one outfitted in holly-jolly-Santa gear. The picture included here should give you an idea (though this isn’t the one from the show). I can’t steal the pictures, so you’ll have to click on... Read more

File This Under “Here We Go Again”

Last updated on: December 8, 2011 at 11:35 pm By Muslimah Media Watch

Last week, Forbes.com featured a briefing from Oxford Analytica entitled, “Why So Many Female Bombers?” The article outlines several reasons that there seem to be so many “female bombers”, according to Forbes and the rest of the news networks: Maternal loss Nationalism Absolution from sins Exploitation I’ll get to these reasons in a minute. A major problem with the article is that it throws out a percentage without referencing any studies or giving us hard statistics to back up their... Read more

Happy International Women’s Day

Last updated on: January 21, 2012 at 2:39 pm By fatemeh

Muslimah Media Watch would like to wish all our readers a happy International Women’s Day! Call all the women in your life that you love and tell them so. You can learn more about the holiday at the official IWD website, and watch some really great videos; they’ve even got a sister talking about the importance of opportunity for women! They’ve also got a beautiful gallery of past IWD events, which is where I stole these pictures from: Afghan girls... Read more

Friday Links — March 7, 2008

Last updated on: January 21, 2012 at 2:39 pm By fatemeh

A teenage Egyptian girl is shot in the head outside her home. May Allah give her peace. Wazhma Frogh is one bad-ass Afghan woman: she uses Islam to fight conservative Afghan cultural viewpoints on women’s rights. Barikallah! The body of Guinean former supermodel and activist against female genital cutting, Katoucha Niane, was found in the Seine River in France. A woman was told she could take off her headscarf or leave a New Orleans mall. WTF? A Muslim woman finds... Read more

Interview with LMOTP’s Sitara Hewitt

Last updated on: March 6, 2008 at 9:00 am By Guest Contributor

“Muslim Comedy Prescribes Women’s Lib” By Bill Harris. This originally appeared here. Women’s lib is alive and well on Little Mosque on the Prairie. Think about the situations encountered by Sitara Hewitt’s character, Dr. Rayyan Hamoudi. Now think about the struggles of early-1970s sitcom characters such as Maude, or Mary Richards, or even Laurie Partridge. There definitely is a thematic link there, with regard to women battling for equality and respect. And Hewitt takes it as a big compliment. “It’s... Read more

Abida Parveen: A Luminary in the World of Sufi Music

Last updated on: December 8, 2011 at 11:35 pm By Muslimah Media Watch

MMW thanks Salma for the tip! Just like Qur’an recitation, devotional music is often designated the realm of men. Women’s voices are often thought to be too erotic to sing or perform religious content — they sway men to sinful thoughts when they should be focusing on God. But some women have broken from behind this barrier and used their voices to rise to be national and international figures. One such women is Abida Parveen of Pakistan. A singer in... Read more