Friday Links | July 12, 2013

Last updated on: July 12, 2013 at 12:36 am By anneke

It is Ramadan and many news items featuring Muslim women are focused on the Holy Month. Muslim women in Florida, USA are providing local Muslim families in need with Ramadan care packages. An Islamic conference in Tanzania on Ramadan called on educated Muslim women to help other women for social development. Women spend nearly double the normal time cooking during Ramadan, according to findings by a market research firm in Dubai. Two female Saudi activists have been sentenced to prison for bringing a food parcel to... Read more

Ramadan for One

Last updated on: July 13, 2013 at 12:12 pm By nicole

Having moved to a new city two years ago, and going through some changes in my personal life last year, my “Zurich-era” Ramadans have become rather solitary affairs. I’m away from family, I’m away from what I consider “my” masjid, and I live alone. Since I tend to be an introvert and my day job keeps me busy, I’m not as upset about it as I could be. Before, my Ramadans ebbed and flowed with the cultural expectations that Ramadan... Read more

9 Things That Make Ramadan Memories Special to Me

Last updated on: July 13, 2013 at 12:12 pm By Yasmeen Nizamy

Ramadan is here! And although its true essence is all about our pursuit of spiritual elevation, we – Muslims – celebrate it in every way possible. Thus, special memories about Ramadan are engraved in our hearts, and I would like to share some of mine here. 1. I was born in Ramadan: When I was a little kid, I thought this makes me special. Ramadan is a holy month and I always believed that anyone born in this month is... Read more

6 Tips for Discussing Muslim Women during Ramadan

Last updated on: July 13, 2013 at 12:11 pm By eren

Ramadan Mubarak everyone! For many years now, Muslimah Media Watch has worked hard to problematize, counter, question and critique depictions of Muslim women in a variety of media outlets, as a way to provide new perspectives to looking at the “Muslim woman problem” (starting by questioning this statement). Since Ramadan 2013 has arrived, I would like to first wish you all a wonderful and blessed month. During this month, I am hoping my fellow MMW writers will have a break... Read more

Ramadan Mubarak!

Last updated on: August 11, 2013 at 8:33 am By Krista

All of us at MMW wish you our very best this Ramadan – whether it starts tonight or tomorrow night (or even if you don’t actually celebrate it but are joining us for the ride!) As you may remember, last year we marked Ramadan by taking a break from our usual media analysis and instead offering up a series of more personal reflections and memories that Ramadan inspires; you can find all of those posts here. We’ll be doing the... Read more

Be Sexy – But Keep It Hidden

Last updated on: July 7, 2013 at 6:06 pm By Krista

Like many people I know, I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook. Although its usefulness for me still outweighs anything else, given the number of people I’m in touch with who live far away from me, I’m often creeped out by the weird stalking behaviours that it encourages, among other things. And then there’s the advertising that pops up. Some of it is hilariously misdirected, like the wave of evangelical Christian ads I saw a few months ago. Much of... Read more

Friday Links | July 5, 2013

Last updated on: July 4, 2013 at 8:33 pm By anneke

Iranian swimmer Elham Asghari swam 20 kilometres in open sea, which is a record breaking distance for Iranian women – but according to officials, her clothing was too revealing and they refused to register her record. A top female police officer, Islam Bibi, has been killed in Afghanistan’s Helmand province by unknown attackers. In Morocco, a man has been sentenced to two years in prison for sexually and physically abusing his wife, and even raping her in front of her children.... Read more

Muslimahs Want Their MTV

Last updated on: July 4, 2013 at 12:00 am By shireen

Last year, I got a call from a young cousin who informed me, with sheer glee, that the new One Direction music video featured a young Muslim in hijab. Those few seconds in the video that highlighted a giddy, veiled teenager were a breakthrough for young identifiable Muslimahs in the world. I think this meant that I was supposed to embrace the boy band that I had successfully been trying to avoid. I must admit I checked out the video.... Read more

Fatima Hamed Hossain: Politician or Jihadist?

Last updated on: July 2, 2013 at 5:29 pm By syahirah

A few weeks ago, I attended the Critical Muslim Studies summer school in Granada, Spain. One of the speakers, Fatima Hamed Hossain, a lawyer, spoke to us about the social and political participation of Muslim women in Spain. There are about one million Muslims who currently reside in Spain, with an estimated number of about 50,000 converts, and the rest being mostly of Moroccan, Syrian, Lebanese and South Asian origins. Immigration and growing rates of conversion of Spaniards from the... Read more

Iron(y) Man 3: Saving Muslim Women

Last updated on: July 2, 2013 at 5:27 pm By woodturtle

Explosions, gripping fight scenes, artificial intelligence, funny one-liners, sexist playboy arrogance and close-ups of Robert Downey Jr.’s face overlaid with computer graphics are everything I expect when walking into an Iron Man movie. What I don’t expect are convenient and overused Hollywood tropes about Muslim women. So now you know my guilty pleasure. I’m a science-fiction-superhero-action-film geek — and I frequent these movie genres in part to turn off my brain, enjoy some CGI eye-candy, and go fanatical over favourite... Read more