Friday Links | October 12, 2012

Last updated on: October 11, 2012 at 11:23 pm By anneke

Earlier this week, Pakistani child rights activist Malala Yousafzai, a teenager herself, was attacked on her way home from school by the Taliban. She was critically injured, but is in a stable condition at point of writing. More than a hundred activist in northwestern Pakistan have rallied against the shooting of the 14-year-old. The Pakistani Taliban has provided a letter to explain the rationale behind the attack of Malala Yousafzai. Pakistani officials have offered a reward for the arrest of her attackers. May Allah protect her.... Read more

At the Centre of the Debate on Secularism, Faith, and Gender Equality

Last updated on: October 11, 2012 at 9:40 am By eren

Last week, Christopher Majka posted an article on rabble.ca in response to Sheema Khan’s piece in the Globe and Mail entitled “Muslim men: Stop blaming women.” At the centre of the debate is: what is the best way to bring gender equality and rights to Muslim women? Is it at all possible? Should it be a faith-based solution or a secular one? Sheema Khan’s article speaks to Egyptian women’s current situation under the Muslim Brotherhood’s influence, and focuses on the... Read more

Nigerian Female Pilgrims Detained in Saudi Arabia

Last updated on: October 8, 2012 at 7:52 pm By anike

Two weeks ago, a dispute erupted between Saudi Arabia and Nigeria over the former’s detainment of more than 1,000 women purported to be travelling for hajj without appropriate male chaperones. It started on Monday, September 24, when a number of Nigerian women were prevented from entering into Saudi Arabia after landing King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah. Subsequent flights into Jeddah’s international airport resulted in more women between the ages of 25 and 35 been stopped and detained so... Read more

Jellyfish Fantasies: The Creature with the Black Niqab Fetish

Last updated on: October 8, 2012 at 6:52 pm By woodturtle

Like a horrific scene from a 1960s monster movie: unbeknownst to scientists on a fossil-hunting expedition along the mist-shrouded Arabian Gulf, a prehistoric creature of gargantuan proportions slowly emerges from the water to the piercing screams of… oh no, wait. It’s not the Creature from the Black Lagoon, or even the Loch Ness monster — it’s just a woman in niqab taking a dip off the cost of Dubai for a staged photoshoot. “An Emerging Mystery” is the creation of Sebastian Farmborough, a budding photographer who spends his... Read more

The Pakistani Women You Have Probably Heard About

Last updated on: October 5, 2012 at 11:22 am By sana

There’s something interesting, in that facepalm sort of way, about the manner in which the South Asian female form is constructed and seen through the North American media gaze. The characterizations of the South Asian female differ from country to country in the subcontinent, from Bangladesh to Pakistan to India to Afghanistan. Despite these differences, however, their portrayals always rely on what is given to us as the foundation of their experiences and identities: they are victims. And it seems... Read more

Friday Links | October 5, 2012

Last updated on: October 4, 2012 at 11:19 pm By anneke

Swedish furniture giant IKEA erased almost all the women from its Saudi catalogue. This has been going on since the 1980s, when IKEA franchises opened in the Kingdom. Swedes are furious, and IKEA says that they will make sure this won’t happen again. Demonstrators in Tunis have expressed their disgust about the fact that a Tunisian rape victim, who was raped by police in front of her fiance, is now accused of public indecency. According to activists, this is just... Read more

Facing Mirrors: Iranian Filmmaker Explores Trans* Identity in Iran

Last updated on: October 4, 2012 at 9:17 am By sharrae

Transgender identities and trans* embodiment are topics that are generally ignored within many communities, and the Muslim community is no exception, and transgendered people are oftentimes pushed to the margins. Art, film, music and other forms of artistic expression, unlike more fixed modes of understanding, can often open up a conversation that communities and individuals may be hesitant to explicitly explore. As I was cruising tumblr recently, searching for thought provoking and groundbreaking work by women of colour, I stumbled... Read more

Powerful Actors or Oppressed “Others”?: Violent Muslim Women in the News

Last updated on: October 2, 2012 at 9:02 am By syahirah

In recent news, Muslim women have been highlighted for their violent actions towards in men in their society. While comparing different articles reporting on the incident of the unnamed Iranian woman (whom I will refer to as the Bad Hijabi for convenience) who beat up the cleric who policed her for her “bad hijab,” I couldn’t help but marvel at the remarkably imaginative accompanying photos: Okay, women in Iran wear black chadors, we get it. But there’s a class and ideological... Read more

Muslim Women Get Naked! Femen’s Topless Tactics and Muslim Women in France

Last updated on: October 1, 2012 at 1:18 pm By eren

Recently, Femen, the controversial Ukrainian feminist organization, has been established in France. Femen was founded in 2008 to protest sexism, patriarchy and violence while advocating for feminism. Its members became well-known for protesting naked against sexism, trafficking, religious institutions and sex tourism, among others. The group, which has become internationally known, has also been able to gather members in some other countries in Europe. The movement’s founder, Anna Hutsol, is an educated 28-year-old who created the organization to enable women... Read more