Category: Women

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…

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.

Are brothels and bikinis signs of progress for Arab women? – CSMonitor.com. Western media have too often measured emerging democracies by the yardstick of “sex, drugs, and rock and roll.” A recent article in The New York Times, “Next Question for Tunisia: The Role of Islam in Politics,” appears to offer the additional standards of “brothels,” “beer,” and “bikinis.”

Irtiqa: Blogging from Pakistan: Female Cabbie and “Firefly” video. The article provides just a glimpse of the class and gender struggles in Pakistan. But then again, Pakistan has a history of amazing women leading from the front on issues of human rights and gender equality, and now even the blasphemy law (for example, the indomitable Asma Jahangir, Mukhtaran Mai, Shereen Rehman, etc.).

‘Undercover’ in hijab: unveiling one month later : The Kentucky Kernel. Last month, I climbed out of my “lap” and wore a hijab, the Muslim headscarf.  I thought this temporary modification of my appearance would bring me closer to an understanding of the Muslim community, but in retrospect, I learned more about my place in the world. Simplified, one piece of fabric is all it takes to turn perspectives upside-down.  The hijab is a contested, sacred and sometimes controversial symbol, but it is just a symbol. It is a symbol of Islam, a misconstrued, misunderstood religion that represents the most…

Wait, Muslim women have opinions about veiling? Who knew? [/sarcasm] The Female Factor – What the Head Scarf Means, When Everyone Wears One – NYTimes.com. To take off the veil, as some women have done, is to ask the candid question of what it means to be a Muslim woman today.

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…