Der Spiegel Highlights the Poor, Slutty Muslim Girls of Europe

Last updated on: February 8, 2011 at 12:00 am By sana

Apparently, and without much to my own knowledge, I, as the generic Muslim female, have been gettin' the haraam on in public washrooms. Okay, a huge exaggeration but this stems from a frustration rooted in a justified source of contempt for media coverage of the female body of the non-European/White persuasion. There is something sincerely tiring about this voyeuristic obsession with not only the sex lives and sexualities of women but those, in particular, of Muslim (see also: ethnic, brown, 'other') women... Read more

The People Versus Veena Malik

Last updated on: February 7, 2011 at 12:00 am By merium

While the state-run Pakistan Television channel (PTV) maintains its reputation as the government channel, a growing number of private channels have a tendency to sensationalize news with their shiny news desks, attractive anchorpersons and modern shows, something I have seen in channels across state lines in India. The “masala angles” (news with dramatizations of a specific event, particularly involving scandals with the rich and famous) work just as well in Pakistan, turning news or talk shows into pseudo reality TV... Read more

Friday Links | February 4, 2011

Last updated on: February 4, 2011 at 12:00 am By fatemeh

The common-law wife of an accused terrorist in Edmonton, Canada, speaks out after his arrest. More here. The Los Angeles Times reports that Muslim and Jewish women grow close at monthly meetings about spirituality. The Women’s Legal Centre in South Africa welcomed the draft of the Muslim Marriages Bill as a way forward for Muslim women and their rights. A driver’s license mix-up provides The Daily Mail fodder on a slow news day. Indonesia’s Center for Education and Information on... Read more

(Attempting to) Go Beyond the Stereotypes

Last updated on: February 3, 2011 at 12:00 am By Krista

The headline of a recent series about Muslim women of the community in the Utica Observer-Dispatch reads, “Behind the veil: Stereotypes can be frustrating for Muslim women.” Major groan. You know what else can be frustrating for Muslim women? Headlines like “Behind the veil.” But for the most part, this article, and its related stories of four Muslim women, reflects some degree of openness and honest curiosity to know more about Muslim women on their own terms, not simply to... Read more

Berlusconi’s Rubygate: But is she Muslim?

Last updated on: February 2, 2011 at 12:00 am By nicole

The ongoing sexual excesses of Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi routinely make headlines. In fact, the tabloid fodder that is his life has been somewhat of a release for me in a time of heavy news (Egypt and Tunisia, anyone?). Orgies with showgirls, presents for nubile barely legal girls who are “just friends,” and assorted sex parties (Bunga Bunga ring a bell?) are just par for the course for Italy’s leader. But recently, a new scandal has come to the... Read more

Between Worlds: Jilbab and Transgender in Indonesia

Last updated on: February 1, 2011 at 12:00 am By alicia

It is a scene that wouldn’t be unfamiliar in France or Belgium: a woman’s hijab is snatched away by strangers on the street from her head despite her protest. She is told she shouldn’t wear it, or rather, she has no right to because her wearing it mocks other women and femininity itself. But it is not an episode of Islamophobic rage that is recounted by Shuniyya Rumaha Haiibalah, but an incident in her native Indonesia that would later become... Read more

Boy vs. Girl: “Pure” Islam or Purely Sanctimonious?

Last updated on: January 31, 2011 at 12:00 am By Sara Yasin

Na’ima B. Robert’s second book, “Boy vs. Girl” is set in a South Asian community in Britain. The two main characters, Farhana and Faraz, are sixteen-year-old twins trying to negotiate their identities as the children of Pakistani immigrants and as Muslims. Robert attempts to tell the story of struggling with trying to find a sense of identity as a Muslim teenager. Farhana is perfect and ideal in every sense of the world. Not only is she described as looking like... Read more

Friday Links | January 28, 2011

Last updated on: January 28, 2011 at 12:00 am By fatemeh

Women in Nigeria protest the disenfranchisement of Muslim women in hijab in the ongoing voter registration. More from AllAfrica. Trailblazing Muslim women will be in Leeds, U.K., for a conference aimed at inspiring and helping others into top professional roles. MPs Baroness Warsi and Yasmin Qureshi are keynote speakers. The Fairfield Mirror examines discrimination that one Muslim girl faces on the Fairfield University campus. Yemeni feminist activist Tawakul Karman was arrested and then released yesterday. A politician has caused a... Read more

678: A Film to Appreciate

Last updated on: January 27, 2011 at 12:00 am By emanhashim

Egypt, like the rest of the Middle East, has been suffering for a long time from street harassment. Naturally, different Egyptian intellects have been trying to emphasize the problem and highlight what can be the start of solving it. Mohamed Diab, a young Egyptian writer, wrote and directed the movie “678,” which focuses on this very dangerous phenomenon. You can see a trailer (in Arabic) here. “678” is the story of three very different Egyptian women who all experience street... Read more

Wishing Upon an Afghan Star

Last updated on: January 26, 2011 at 12:00 am By diana

The images that Afghanistan conjures are usually ones that mirror front-page stories of newspapers around the world: armed Taliban crouching at the entry of a mountain cave, women in burqas, and images of public stonings are just a few that are constantly associated with the country. HBO is schedule to air a two-part documentary that paints a broader picture of Afghanistan and its women. The first part titled, “Afghan Star,” named for Afghanistan’s first televised singing competition, follows the final... Read more