Before I begin. I just want to apologize for getting this post up late. Travelling always takes a lot out of me, especially when travelling on train. This past weekend, I went to the second annual Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA) conference in Philadelphia. I did a lot of vending with my husband this […]

The internet is abuzz with talk about an all new rock band, The Accolade. Nothing special, you would think, until you realize that not only are the members all women, but all Saudi women. On the day the band made the front page of The New York Times (NYT), their ‘friends’ on their MySpace page […]

As soon as I saw the headline, I have to admit I was thinking “huh?” and “what!” I’m not too keen on products geared towards women because usually these products rely heavily on stereotypes. Unfortunately, this new feminine car does just that. It’s suppose to come out in a range of “feminine colors” and “interior […]

I’m a member of a group called BuSSy, which aims to raise awareness of women’s issues in Egypt. Every year, we put on a play which we call “the Egyptian version of the Vagina Monologues:” real stories written by real women. So how excited was I when I found out that one of the co-founders […]

And that, dear readers, is the slogan being used to sell a non-alcoholic beer to Egyptians in a nation-wide campaign. Birell is produced by Al-Ahram Beverages, and is Egypt’s top-selling non-Alcoholic beer, owning 98% of the malt beverages market. The website describes it as “a sparkling malt beverage […] with a strong bitter malt taste, […]

A U.A.E.-based newspaper, The National, published a story yesterday about increasing numbers of Saudi women entering the workplace (read here). While this isn’t the first story written about Saudi women in the workforce, it is one of the best written ones I’ve seen. There is no presumption of Western superiority in regards to women in […]

Ghada El-Tawil (pictured below) is an Egyptian anchorwoman who just recently returned to television. Six years ago, she was pulled from television after she began wearing a headscarf. The BBC has published a new story about El-Tawil in which she discusses her legal battle, why she wears hijab, and the struggles for Egyptian hijabis in […]

As an academic, I must admit I enjoy conferences. Alright, not all conferences nor everything about them, but I do enjoy the prospect of learning new things, expanding my mind, and meeting new people. Last week saw two conferences on and for Muslim women. One was held in Barcelona, Spain, and the other in New […]

Like last week’s article on Britain’s apparent condemnation of the entire system of Islamic law, it was the ridiculous headline of this article that got me first. “Al-Azhar backs women’s right to beat husbands“? Hardly. Scholars from al-Azhar University in Cairo have affirmed that a woman who is being abused has a right to fight […]

“Audio blogging” is the new ‘it’ thing in Egypt. Cheap and censorship-free in a country where the airwaves are controlled by the government, it’s not hard to understand its appeal. There are many new web radio stations out there, but perhaps one of the most interesting is Banat w bas, Girls Only, which began streaming […]