In an issue of last month’s X-Factor comic (#217), one of the series’ long-time characters—M, also known as Monet St. Croix—revealed that she was Muslim (“I’m a Muslim and a mutant!”) during anti-Muslim protests in New York City, akin to the ones that took place last year in response to the proposal to build a Muslim community center. The series follows a group of mutant detectives in New York City. This wouldn’t be the first time that a Marvel comic... Read more
Deaffinity is a group whose mission is to “help break barriers and improve the quality of life for the BME [black and minority ethnic] D/deaf community.” While advocating on behalf of the deaf community, Deaffinity provides culturally sensitive services to the Deaf community, such as their Youth leadership and Engagement program, and is also involved in fostering awareness within the hearing community by creating various campaigns. Their most recent campaign, which won first place at the London Adobe Youth Voices... Read more
Is it just me, or has this spring seen a lot of de-jabbing articles lately? As a “dejabi” myself, I alternate between taking these articles with a grain of salt and hoping that something put forth by the journalist will resonate with me. One of the recent pieces is NPR’s “Lifting the Veil” (har har), which looks at the stories of twelve Muslim women who stopped wearing headscarves. The whole premise of the article bothers me: If it isn’t Muslims... Read more
Mukhtaran Mai’s appeals against her rapists have been struck down by a Pakistani court. Don’t miss the Online Conference of Islamic Feminism! The Chairman of the Azerbaijani State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs believes several families force their children to wear the hijab. Common Ground News Service looks at currents of change for women in Saudi Arabia. NPR profiles several American Muslim women who have removed their headscarves. Zainab Al-Khawaja has ended her hunger strike in order to... Read more
For me, Gayle Tzemach Lemmon’s The Dressmaker of Khair Khana is a journalistic field story masquerading as a feel good beach novel in the Oprah Book Club genre. That isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy reading it, but I felt it warranted something more. While Lemmon’s storytelling is her strength–the way the book is organized is captivating–it also stops the book short from sending its message home: fact becomes fiction and hard realities become just a story. However, considering the... Read more
A sexist Carl’s Jr. ad? You don’t say! For their new turkey burger, Carl’s Jr. has rolled out an ad campaign with Miss Turkey in a bikini. You’d think this would get old, right? Ugh. Read more
At first glance, the film “Scheherazade, Tell Me a Story” seems to provide another viewpoint about women. However, its underlined notions of politics, patriarchy, gender and the nation are what make this film stand out. Placed in Egypt, the film tells primarily the story of Hebba, a “modern” and “liberated” TV show hostess who has a very successful career. Her popular show deals with a number of political issues, ranging from corruption to religious extremism. Karim, Hebba’s husband, is a... Read more
So…the burqa ban has gone into effect in France as of Monday. Arrests have already been made, and a whole lot of people are talking about it: see here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. The Washington Post looks at American women who wear niqab, and The West Australian looks at Australian women who do so. You might think that the burqa ban was the only/biggest thing to happen to Muslim women this week, by looking at the media... Read more
When I clicked on a link forwarded to me, I was pleasantly surprised to see a woman wearing a headscarf with a guitar in hand, an almost rare sight given some socio-communal stigmas associated with music. I was even more intrigued by the subject of the video, “The Ramadan Song”–a take on Adam Sandler’s “The Hannukah Song,” with a Muslim angle, of course. The song (from her one-woman show, entitled Headscarf and the Angry Bitch) itself starts off wonderfully, borrowing... Read more
And speaking of trash bags, here’s a poster for Germany’s International Human Rights ad campaign: The translation reads: “Oppressed women are easily overlooked. Please support us in the fight for their rights.” Outrageous. Thanks to Kawthar for the tip! Read more
Muslimah Media Watch
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