Two constitutional court cases in Kuwait raise questions of a paradigm shift in women’s rights.

German-Turkish writer Seyran Ates thinks Islam needs a sexual revolution. This might seem a little tongue-in-cheek, given the countless political revolutions post-due in predominantly Muslim countries, yet Ates’ book couldn’t be timelier. Muslims, like everyone else, are exposed to sex at an earlier age, despite marrying later than past generations. It isn’t hard to prove […]

The calls of lawyer, activist, and writer Seyran Ates for a sexual revolution in the heterogeneous Muslim world may surprise many, particularly when the movement is commonly associated with free love, hippies, and public nudity. In a recent interview with German magazine Spiegel, Ates begins with discussing what she means by this and her experiences […]

Not to be outdone by Egypt’s Shaykh Tantawi, the Muslim Canadian Congress (MCC) released a statement two weeks ago that calls for the Canadian government “to introduce legislation to ban the wearing of masks, niqabs and the burka in public.”  Their rationale for this statement seems twofold: one one hand, the MCC is concerned that […]

This is my second post covering the Globe and Mail‘s series on women in Kandahar, Afghanistan.  My first post examined the title and introductions to the project; this post will look at the online footage of the ten interviews that were conducted for the series.  There is more to the project than what is covered […]

Women of Hezbollah is a 50-minute film directed by Maher Abi Samra. It takes place between 1996 and 2000. Ten years after the last Israeli aggression (and defeat) in south Lebanon, reviewing this documentary may sound anachronistic. But sometimes distance helps to get a more accurate insight about Hezbollah–a major political actor that is unjustly […]

Pray the Devil Back to Hell is a documentary about the women’s peace movement in Liberia, during the conflict between Charles Taylor’s government and the warlords of Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD). It was directed by Gini Reticker, who has directed several other documentaries about women in Africa, including a film about the […]

This post is the first of two that will analyze the recent Globe and Mail series on women in Kandahar, Afghanistan.  While the series included segments in print and broadcast media, my focus here is on the multimedia online section, accessible through the Globe and Mail‘s website.  Today’s post will be an overview of some […]

Have you ever noticed how minorities—and oppressed people in general—lack a sense of humor? Lately, there have been plenty of jokes about Arabs and Muslims. So why aren’t we laughing? French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux recently felt his joke fall flat after this year’s summer congress. One of his traditional supporters, Amin Benalia, asked if […]

This is a comic by StudioBendib. What are your thoughts on it, readers?