Muslim Chic

Wanita Power: What Women in the US Could Learn from Indonesians. It’s surreal for me, an American woman, to be telling audience after audience of women dressed in traditional Muslim headscarves that we don’t have gender equality figured out. But it’s more surreal for them to hear it. More than a few women have told me they were shocked. That they’d assumed women could do whatever they wanted in the US. A few have said that after my talk, they think starting a company sounds easier in Indonesia.

Hijab and the City defies French Muslim stereotypes | PRI’s The World. How to integrate Muslims into France’s secular state? That’s a seemingly endless debate these days. And it’s causing an uproar. But Mariame and Kadija Tighanimine, French Muslims of Moroccan origin would rather go shopping. Or at least promote it, on their webzine Hijab and the City. The name is a riff off a television show you probably know.  “We’re businesswomen,” said Mariame in a recent interview in Paris. “Hijab and the City is our webzine where we talk to our audience about shopping and other normal things. The…

Veiled Threats? – Opinionator Blog – NYTimes.com. Finally, I’ve heard the argument that the burqa is per se unhealthy, because it is hot and uncomfortable.  (Not surprisingly, this argument is made in Spain.)  This is perhaps the silliest of the arguments.  Clothing that covers the body can be comfortable or uncomfortable, depending on the fabric.   In India I typically wear a full salwaar kameez of cotton, because it is superbly comfortable, and full covering keeps dust off one’s limbs and at least diminishes the risk of skin cancer.  It is surely far from clear that the amount of skin displayed…