For many years now, countries around the world have been faced with the question of minority rights and religious accommodation. In Canada, where I currently live, questions about niqabs in courtrooms, voting stations and citizenship ceremonies have been raised in the past five years. Part of the debate has been the meaning of religious accommodation, […]

Radio Amina and Aisha’s Song are two documentary-style short films produced by Grain Media, a London-based production company, as part of the Girl Effect campaign, a movement that states that the 250 million adolescent girls who live poverty are the most powerful force for change on the planet. Following that theme, Radio Amina and Aisha’s […]

This post was originally published at wood turtle. Finally, here’s the fourth post in my series on the media stereotyping of Muslim women. It was an absolute joy to speak to these phenomenal women and it was so exciting to pick their brains. If I had the power, I would have invited everyone for a massive party. […]

This post was originally published at wood turtle. This is the third post in my ongoing series on the media stereotyping of Muslim women. There are amazing media makers in the Muslim blogosphere and this is by no means a comprehensive list of all the fabulous people out there challenging stereotypes. In fact, I’ve had to split […]

This post was originally published at wood turtle. This is the second post in my series on the media stereotyping of Muslim women. While some media argue that (identifiable) Muslim women are more likely to suffer Islamophobic attacks than men, I also recognize that Muslim men and non-Muslim men are also recipients of racial and anti-Muslim violence. This post looks specifically at […]

This post was first published at wood turtle. Last summer I spoke at a conference about some of the media stereotyping of Muslim women and the consequences that negative images and Islamophobia have on Muslim women and their families. Over a series of posts I’ll be sharing some of my research looking at the various ways Muslim […]

With Valentine’s Day coming up, I have found myself wondering about relationships, dating and marriage. As a woman that has been in a long distance relationship for numerous years, big heart-shaped balloons, teddy bears and red roses are not part of my life. However, after joining grad school I noticed that I am not the […]

In a previous post, I talked a little about the 99 Hijab Stories book and why the idea of the book made me squirm. I don’t know how succesful the book has been, but it certainly has generated enough hype that a few months later an Indonesian TV channel announced that it would air (*drumroll*) […]

Last Wednesday, social media was abuzz with the published findings of a recent study conducted in the “Muslim world” (Tunisia, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey). The initial study was done by University of Michigan and looked at religious tolerance and secularism in Tunisia in comparison with six other nations.  Although the initial […]

The beginning of December brought a season of joy and cheer. For Muslims in the United States and Canada, it also brought some of the most heated and intense debates on social media about Islam and identity, community, critique, critique of critiques, slut-shaming, and who may (not) speak for, to, about (un)veiled Muslim women regarding […]