Sports Hijab Industry Wins – Or Does It?

June 17, 2015 By shireen

Women’s athletic wear has become a billion dollar business. Designers and sportswear companies such as Adidas and Under Armour have designers catering to the needs and fashion preferences of women, from working out in style to walking about in comfortable prêt-à-porter items. But recently a new category of sportswear has unveiled itself and is racing up into the mainstream sportswear industry: sports hijabs. Active muslimahs have definitely made an impact and businesses are listening. When I started wearing hijab many... Read more

A Letter to Mona Eltahawy on “Headscarves and Hymens”

June 11, 2015 By eren

Dear Mona, Some of my fellow Muslimah Media Watch writers put together a roundtable about their thoughts on your book, and as I read it, I decided to explore some of their ideas and thoughts further. This review in the form of a letter stems from the need to address not only the book itself, but also the themes that are the core of your work in general. “Headscarves and Hymens” is a personal book. In fact, the information in... Read more

Why does an Indonesian woman need to be a virgin to join the military?

June 10, 2015 By syahirah

An expose by Human Rights Watch (HRW) in November 2014 on the use of virginity tests in Indonesia’s police force has revealed that just because people are silent over a long-standing practice, it doesn’t mean that it is accepted as a normal part of everyday life. Also referred to as the “two-finger test”, it involves a female physician inserting two fingers into the vagina to check for vaginal laxity and the presence of an intact hymen. Women who failed the... Read more

Friday Links

June 5, 2015 By samya

High street department store House of Fraser now stocks Islamic headscarves designed to help Muslim women exercise and swim. The range contains unitard bodysuits and light-weight hijabs, or Islamic headscarves, for women to wear during aerobics and swimming. United Airlines says the flight attendant who allegedly denied a Muslim woman an unopened can of soda will no longer serve customers on their planes. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled in favor of a Muslim woman who sued for discrimination... Read more

Review of Loving You Wasn’t Enough

June 2, 2015 By anike

Warning for Spoilers! Loving You Wasn’t Enough is a book about an unexpected love between two Muslim girls. I stumbled upon it randomly on Amazon and was immediately excited by the premise. It a book that claims to explore homosexuality from a Muslim perspective, and it tells a story that is not talked about often. With the exception of Diriye Osman, the Somali-British short story writer and essayist whose stories are usually centered around LGBT Somali characters, I was yet to... Read more

Long Skirts aren’t “secular” enough in France

May 27, 2015 By nicole

I write a lot about France and its national psychosis over headscarves. I wrote my undergraduate thesis on the 2004 law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols. I lived there as a hijabi for almost five years. So it is safe to say nothing really involving France and headscarves shocks me any more. Until recently. One of the typical elements of the headscarf ban in schools is that women can’t wear headbands greater than a certain width, or caps, or... Read more

Ignorant Solidarity with Muslim Sportswomen

May 26, 2015 By shireen

Who doesn’t love stories and reports of young Muslims girls in Afghanistan, leaping through the air and landing on their skateboards? The agility and passion for skateboarding is juxtaposed with general tomboy badassery, which it is implied, is surprising to find in in their homeland. Their long colourful dresses heighten the wonder of their athleticism. Protective helmets are carefully placed on top of their headscarves. As members of Skateistan, they stand for much sought-after photographs. Their faces bright with confidence,... Read more

Friday Links

May 22, 2015 By samya

A Michigan native becomes the first Muslim American to compete on the popular cooking show, MasterChef, in its sixth season. For her, the hardest thing was neither the cooking nor the competition; it was being away from home. Tsolin Nalbantian writes on hoodies, hijabs, and belonging in the Netherlands. She discusses an incident that exposed the tension of living in a country that is not quite sure about how to engage with foreigners of all kinds, including its own Muslim... Read more

American Crime Series Recapped

May 20, 2015 By Azra

In this post, Azra concludes her series of reviews of American Crime. Read her earlier reviews here. Spoilers ahead—you’ve been warned! Last week, American Crime concluded on ABC. I hadn’t reviewed the past several shows, as Aliyah’s time on screen became more and more limited with the show focusing on some of the other character’s concerns. She was able to work with her brother Carter’s attorney to have his case thrown out of court, in conjunction with Carter’s girlfriend, Aubry, confessing... Read more

Friday Links

May 15, 2015 By samya

Nadia Manzoor is on a crusade to use humor and honesty to talk about the challenges she faced as a young Muslim immigrant coming of age in the US, through a web comedy series called “Shugs and Fats.” The French government is under growing pressure to make a clear ruling on whether schoolgirls can wear long skirts in state schools, after sending home around 150 Muslim girls for turning up in long skirts or robes. Atheela Abdulla is not... Read more