Gender liberation and the Arab Spring

Reflections on the Arab Spring and its impact on gender equality in the Arab world.

Take Your War Elsewhere

Let us stop using the bodies of women as our fronts for cultural warfare.

The Last Tango in Paris

If she was wearing heels, this would have been much hotter. [tarboush tip: emily]

Niqab: The Latest Diversion

How can self-expression through certain attire, religious or not, be banned in a free society?

Rape in the Time of War

Less than a week ago, international journalists at Tripoli’s Rixo’s hotel found their breakfast disrupted when a Libyan woman by the name of Iman al-Obeidi rushed in and began screaming of the atrocities committed against her by Libyan soldiers, including repeated gang rape. Horrified reporters looked on and cameras rolled as hotel staff rushed in [...]

The People Want to Overthrow the Gender Regime!

Two Transgender passengers from Jordan flying into Cairo caused a “Crisis” last weekend when they attempted to enter the country with their passports which had their birth names and assigned genders written on them. The passport officer said he was startled by a “strikingly beautiful woman” presenting her passport to him which had her name [...]

Maintaining a Narrative: ABC’s Monolithic Muslim Experience

Discrimination, however administered and defined, is not what defines the American Muslim woman’s experience. Nor the experience of all American Muslims. To continue to focus on the discrimination faced by Muslims in terms of taunts and stares thrown their way is to create a victimized narrative and experience of American Muslims…

The Hijab Alternative

If all men were blind, would Sharia grant women the right to walk naked in the streets?

It is that men have eyes that seems to be the one and only reason why the ultra-religious insist on the necessity for women to cover up.

This is proof that, contrary to ultra-religious oxymoronic views, cultural norms and habits trump any religious teaching.

Hamas’ Record on Women, a Mixed Bag

When it comes to women rights, Hamas in Gaza continues to pass and enforce laws and regulations that are baffling to say the least. I have been watching their actions on women related matters and most of the time I am surprised by how much time to dedicate to making the life for women a bit more difficult. But then when I went to Gaza and saw how things are, I started to see Hamas’s record as a mixed bag. While the majority of Hamas figures see the home and family are the only place for a women. Many Hamas supporters also engage in polygamy (but her husband is a Shaheed). Granted there are things I see as a downside, some might seem them as an upside. For example, in their rallies, Hamas likes to enlist the help of women by promising them to get food stamps for showing up to their rallies. Here is a list of observations on Hamas’ record on women as the Hamas government continues to make waves.

KABOBhero: Lubna al-Hussein

This Sudanese media worker was charged by the government with ‘indecency’ for wearing trousers, which carries the medieval penalty of forty lashes from a whip.

After this story gained wide media coverage, the Sudanese officials looked for a way out. Al-Hussein was an employee of the UN and was therefore immune, they said in an attempt to save face and salvage the law. She responded by quitting her job and demanding a trial in the hopes of getting it thrown off the books. Her defense was that the law was both in contravention of Islam and the government’s constitution.