Al Ahram Weekly looks at the sexual assaults during Eid in Egypt. Two suspects are being tried currently. The BBC interviews a female suicide bombers in Gaza. Via Arabisto. The Herald writes more about the history of women in suicide bombing. More Indonesians against the anti-pornography bill. On November 24-25, the Second Ministerial Meeting on […]

A female fan jumps onstage and kisses Tamer Hosni during a concert in Kuwait, shutting down the concert early and outraging Kuwaiti parliament members. Eid celebrations in a Cairo suburb were marred after several women were sexually assaulted. A woman and her husband are harassed by three members of the Saudi Commission for the Promotion […]

What’s the first image that comes to your mind when you think of a Muslim woman? Is she Arab or South Asian? White or maybe Afghan or Indonesian? Notice that I haven’t mentioned African American (and also Latina). The media depiction of Muslim women usually does not include African American women. Often, Muslim women are […]

This was written by Muse and originally appeared at her blog Between Hope & Fear. It’s joyful to be a Muslim woman. So says Mohja Kahf. I agree with the sentiment and the substance of pretty much everything she wrote here, but her style bothers me. This is nothing new – I wrote about her […]

The Washington Post ran an op-ed on Sunday by Mohja Kahf, author of The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf. Entitled “Spare Me the Sermon on Muslim Women” Kahf responds to those who insist that the Muslim woman is oppressed, repressed, monolithic, brainwashed, and worthy of pity. Using brilliant language, which creates colourful pictures in the […]

Children at an Ohio mosque were sprayed with chemical irritant by unknown assailants. More at Daily Kos. Thea Lim writes about the lack of outrage in mainstream media, and the local police say there “isn’t evidence that this is a hate crime.” WHAT?! Karen Estes writes a thought-provoking post about what “hijab” has become. Afghanistan’s […]

Normally, whenever I see anything with the phrase “Behind the veil” I automatically cringe and get myself ready for Orientalist stereotypes and generalizations about Muslim women. Na’ima B. Robert’s “Behind the veil: the online diary of a British Muslim woman” isn’t quite so bad. Although at first glance it does seem that way, especially considering […]

This was written by Cycads and originally published at her blog. Come into my parlour: A scene from Nadine Labaki’s ‘Caramel’ (2007) The depiction of liberal Muslim women in film is a moment made of groundbreaking stuff. In a time where the veil is a symbol of subjugation, films about Muslim women like ‘Caramel‘ (2007) […]

Balinese parliament members lobby against Indonesia’s anti-porn bill, which we reported on last week. The Vatican calls for both Muslims and Christians to “protect the family.” An appeals court re-examines the French case of a man asking for an annulment because his wife wasn’t a virgin. Who says Saudi women are helpless? A group of […]

More shameless self-promotion time! Here’s my interview with Kawthar from MidEast Youth. It was originally published there. Reporting on Muslim women has become the craze of the day. While in many cases journalists are well-intentioned and honestly seek to report objectively on aspects relating to Muslim women, a large number of the resulting articles is […]