This was written by Liam Stack, and was originally published at the Christian Science Monitor. Cairo – A young woman stands under the spotlight inside a small theater at the elite American University, looking defiantly into the audience. She is “Muslim Woman,” one of four actresses performing a skit of the same name put on […]

This was written by Safiya, and originally appeared at Outlines.   This week the programme is set in the U.K Regular viewers and/or readers of these reviews may have noticed that this programme is a tad fond of sweeping generalisations. The first words spoken by Armani Zain are: “Tonight I’m exploring a world right on […]

This was written by Emrah Güler and was originally published at the Turkish Daily News. In light of celebrating Mother’s Day last Sunday and the Flying Broom International Women’s Film Festival continuing in Ankara this week, we take a brief look at women in the history of Turkish cinema. We look at how women were […]

This was written by Safiya, and originally published at Outlines. You can see earlier reviews of this show here. This week’s episode is in Cairo. Presenter Amani Zain is quick to paint it as a party town from her experiences there as a student. Zain gives a good insight into dress in Cairo, explaining that […]

This was written by Sakina and originally appeared at Ruined by Reading. The Veil And The Male Elite by Fatima Mernissi is probably worth reading even if you don’t agree with it, and it should only take you 2-4 hours to get through. I don’t agree with a lot of what she says, and I […]

Written by Ebtihal Mubarak, originally published on Arab News. JEDDAH, 19 May 2008 — For 25 days supporters and friends of Saudi blogger Hadeel Alhodaif have waited anxiously, hoping that she would emerge from the coma she fell into unexpectedly. But on Friday these hopes died as the 25-year-old writer and social critic — known […]

This was written by Susan, and was originally published at Humble Musing. Apparently being a pop singer in the Arab world is enough to tag you with the adjective “raunchy” (Also here, and again here). Haifa Wehbe is supposed to perform in Bahrain around Labor Day, and the Parliament is considering whether to forbid her […]

This was written by Vanessa, and originally published at Feministing. When you thought Western culture couldn’t be more patronizing towards women from Muslim nations, their victimization and “powerlessness” might as well come with some infantalization to top it off: Saudi Arabian women have fewer rights than infants in the West, a report released today claims. […]

This was written by Maytha, originally published at KABOBfest. Why does every Western representation, photo-essay, primetime special feature on Muslims in America exclusively focus on the muhajabat when portraying the American Muslim woman experience? Time magazine’s online photo-essay “Muslim in America” features 16 pics of “ordinary” Muslim activity in New York. Ironically, I have a […]

Written by Andrea Useem; this was originally published at Religion Writer. I’ve just finished watching FrontRunner, the new documentary from New View Films about Massouda Jalal, the only female candidate in Afghanistan’s 2004 elections. It’s hard, of course, to think about a woman running for president without immediately making comparisons to the current presidential race […]