Of late, Pakistan’s foreign minister, Hina Rabbani Khar, has become the unfortunate target of tabloid headlines here in the sub-continent (and beyond, I expect, as the story continues to go viral). According to an “expose” in the Weekly Blitz (a Bangladeshi tabloid), Pakistan’s top diplomat is allegedly embroiled in a passionate affair with Bilawal Zardari […]

Last week, Christopher Majka posted an article on rabble.ca in response to Sheema Khan’s piece in the Globe and Mail entitled “Muslim men: Stop blaming women.” At the centre of the debate is: what is the best way to bring gender equality and rights to Muslim women? Is it at all possible? Should it be […]

Two weeks ago, a dispute erupted between Saudi Arabia and Nigeria over the former’s detainment of more than 1,000 women purported to be travelling for hajj without appropriate male chaperones. It started on Monday, September 24, when a number of Nigerian women were prevented from entering into Saudi Arabia after landing King Abdul Aziz International […]

There’s something interesting, in that facepalm sort of way, about the manner in which the South Asian female form is constructed and seen through the North American media gaze. The characterizations of the South Asian female differ from country to country in the subcontinent, from Bangladesh to Pakistan to India to Afghanistan. Despite these differences, […]

In recent news, Muslim women have been highlighted for their violent actions towards in men in their society. While comparing different articles reporting on the incident of the unnamed Iranian woman (whom I will refer to as the Bad Hijabi for convenience) who beat up the cleric who policed her for her “bad hijab,” I couldn’t […]

The last few weeks in Libya have been tragic, depressing and hopeful by turn.  For months the militia situation in the country had been brewing, with increasing calls for disarmament and unification under a national army on the one hand, and on the other, calls for patience by those making the argument that the armed […]

MMW is excited to welcome wood turtle as our newest contributor! You may know her already from previous guest posts or from her personal blog, and we look forward to having her as a regular part of the MMW team. Earlier this month, the Canadian province of Quebec elected its first female Premier. Headed by Pauline […]

About two weeks ago, my bulging eyes nearly met my falling jaw when I came across a flood of tweets in my feed about the Saudi Industrial Property Authority, “MODON,” building an all-woman city to boost the country’s economy and productivity all while ensuring that no one gets a hickey from the opposite sex in […]

Since the anti-burqa law (or whatever you want to call it, I can’t anymore) was passed in France, women with “full cover” can be cited for non-compliance, and can be stopped for identity checks.  We all remember the story of the polygamous butcher and his many niqab-clad wives gleefully committing welfare fraud.  One of his wives […]

The 2012 London Olympics have had a strong focus on women: for the first time women will be competing in all sports and every country has sent at least one female athlete. While this does all look mighty good on paper, “male” sports remain overall more popular and male athletes are often better paid, make […]