About MMW
About Us
Muslimah Media Watch is a forum where we, as Muslim women, can critique how our images appear in the media and popular culture. Although we are of different nationalities, sects, races, etc., we have something important in common: we’re tired of seeing ourselves portrayed by the media in ways that are one-dimensional and misleading. This is a space where, from a Muslim feminist perspective, we can speak up for ourselves.
As Muslim feminists we aim to locate and critique misogyny, sexism, patriarchy, Islamophobia, racism, and xenophobia as they affect Muslim women. Furthermore, we believe in equality — regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, and ability.
This blog is meant to be inclusive to all people, with a special focus on Muslim women. MMW strives to create an environment in which our writers and readers feel safe and welcome. We ask that you be considerate towards others and their opinions. This is a respectful forum for dialogue, not argument or personal attacks.
Who We Are
You can read about MMW contributors here or follow the “MMW Contributors” link on the right.
Contact Us
If you’d like to get in contact with us, you can email us at muslimahmediawatch@gmail.com.
Muslimah Media Watch is owned by Fatemeh Fakhraie. Muslimah Media Watch © 2007-09. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
Sorry comments are closed for this entry
Well let me be the first to say Congrats on the new site!
‘…we believe in equality — regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, and ability.’
This statement is absolutely meaningless. Equality- of what? Equality- before what?
Sorry, I have a question not related to any posts- do you have a contact address (email)?
You can reach us at muslimahmediawatch@gmail.com
Sorry about that; I’ll post it on here.
You believe in ‘equality of ability’?!? Are you sure you don’t want to qualify this?
WM, are you understanding “equality” as “sameness”? If you are, then of course the section you quoted would sound weird. There is certainly a wide diversity among humans in each of the categories mentioned – ethnicity, ability, etc. – and I don’t think anyone on this site would try to pretend that every person is the same.
My own understanding (in a nutshell) of that sentence is that everyone is equally valued, should have equal respect, and equitable opportunities.
I agree with Krista. Equality refers to equal opportunities, equal respect, equal freedom, equal value.
What is with the “pro-homosexuality” sentiments that keeping being expressed on here?
@ Philip:
Why is that a problem?
just asking if MMW has a policy on this or if it is just the opinions of individual bloggers?
While our contributors have a right to their own beliefs, MMW’s official policy is on inclusion: inclusion of everyone who identifies as a Muslim and a woman, no matter what other labels they identify with.
We also aim to avoid “isms” that plague many Muslim groups, like racism, sexism, homophobia, and anti-Semitism, in order to talk openly about issues that Muslim women face, to make Muslim women’s dialogues accessible to a wider audience, and to mesh with human rights ideals.
ok, thanks. i look forward when the so called “heterosexist system of oppression” will be blogged about.
Salam/Greetings to all……Islam gives equality in value to both genders but each has their own role in life. The two genders compliment each other in this way.
With respect to the wider question of equality ….. we dont catagorise our view on homosexuality in this way in Islam….its an issue of what is permitted and what isn’t in Islam. Equality doesnt come in to it. I would still afford the right of a gay person to make their point on a forum but that doesnt mean I accept his (or her) view on what is permissabel sexual persuation. If that equates to inequality, then so be it…..if all you want is a say…say your piece and debate in a mature way.
@ Imi
I used to believe in
“Islam gives equality in value to both genders but each has their own role in life. The two genders compliment each other in this way.”
(LOL) But I don’t anymore believe that anymore. I later learned to understand that compliment does not mean equality, it means to comply and perform what is due of me as my “role” as a women.
Equality to ME (and alot of other people) means each person has their own role in life and it is NOT determined by another individual. I assign my own role and I am free to take as many roles as I like or none at all. I think it’s called free will! Besides, the role of a *gender changes with different social groups, cultures, economic status, different interpretations and different times.
Example, 150 years ago my “gender role” would be intrepreted as leaving me with only three career options
1) Wife, 2) Prostitute, 3) Dependent on family members or in some parts of the world sent to a nunnery.
I learned the hard way that when some claim “The two genders compliment each other” it’s nice wording for there is No equality, or “no equal opportunities, equal respect, equal freedom, equal value”. To some that’s not a compliment it is confirming; usually to the status quo.
“With respect to the wider question of equality ….. we dont catagorise…”
P.S. who is this “WE” you mention?
where’s ethar?
I’m here :)
Salaams!
You’ve been nominated for the butterfly award. JAK for all your hard work!!!
an avid reader,
S&S
your site is awesome!
Just found out about you throught Global Voices. I love the work you do and the image you provide of the Islamic culture throught the web. Keep it up, we need people to get over stereotypes and start knowing each other for real no matter race, gender or religion.
http://flipfloppingjoy.com/2008/12/20/wishes-and-love/#comments
Asalaam Aleikum. I saw this amazing post with a call to action here at BrownFemiPower’s new blog, Flip Flopping Joy. I thought of linking it to my blog, but I think it will reach more people, active people, if you guys can link it here at MMW. Kindly have a look. It is in regards to Dr. Aafia Siddiqui.
Salaam alaikum,
I’m such a fan, a huge fan!! :)
hello!
i really like MMW. it’s a very informative and thoughtful blog. my friend and i have attempted to start our own blog, and we’re spreading the word. hope the authors of MMW will drop by!
desifeminism.wordpress.com
I love your blog, do you have a policy on contributions?
Please email us if you’re interested in contributing. :D
Hello everyone, I always read your article with interest.
I just want to share this article I just found: http://tinyurl.com/cqcer3, I’d like like to know your opinions about it.
Aslm and greetings,
just found your site and I am totally thrilled that I have somewhere that I can discuss my thoughts with.
ten years ago I started to write a book called the ‘Muslim Feminist’, all my Muslim friends and family slated my decision to use the word ‘feminist’ as they felt it was contrary to Islam. I was very naive and vulnerable at the time so I abandoned my endeavours and to see you use this term has just made my day. Thank you.
Assalamulaikum,
First of all, I appreciate all the hard work being put into this site. THe effort is commendable.
However, I echo the sentiments of what Imi posted above. You say your blog is for people who identify as being ‘Muslim’ and a ‘woman’. But the very idea of being Muslim means that you must submit and comply to certain guidelines for living. Homosexuality is very clearly forbidden in Islam- so whilte a homosexual person has an equal right to post wherever they like and do not deserve to be verbally attacked, homosexuality and heterosexuality are in no way equal in Islam.
I personally find that you employ a very modernist deconstructive attitude in analyzing how the media portrays Muslims. You’re essentially communicating that you want to portray a wide spectrum of opinions and presentations of Muslim women, but you tear down and criticize any views which do not fall into your pluralistic agenda and personal views of how Muslim women should be presented in the media. Isn’t that kind of contradictory?
I have read several analyses posted on this site which deconstruct articles or posts sentence by sentence: ultimately failing to understand or capture the full message or meaning of a piece. You waste a lot of your time berating the mere semantics of things. If you are pandering to a Western academic audience by breaking down and criticizing Muslim viewpoints, then I personally feel that this entire endeavour is self-defeatist. In order for Muslims to achieve any meaningful headway in Western, and global, societies, we need to do it in our own terms, not caught up in pointless arguments which centre around the minutae of sentence structure.
If you start attacking Islamic pieces and do not have enough Islamic knowledge to know the difference between attacking what is the personal, cultural bias in the piece and what is actual Islam- then you are doing yourself and others a great disservice.
If you are going to present Islam in this way, in this mutated way with all the soul sucked out of it, and all you have left is an overly PC apologetic carcass of a religion, then your really no different from immigrant Muslims who are often blamed of tainting Islam in the West by their own cultural baggage.
It sometimes appears as if you too are tainting it by your own apologetic and Western pandering viewpoints, diluting it from its ultimate spirtual message.
I urge you to leave behind the egotistical academic approach when reading this post and try to understand the meaning of what I am attempting to convey. Breaking down a piece of writing sentence by sentence does not make you smarter or more cultured or more open or enlightened. If you forget the point of Islam in all of this, then you might as well just call this site ‘Mediawatch’.
[Mod note: I left this comment as is, but judgments about sexualities and levels of Islamic practice do not belong on this blog.]
@ FAM:
Agree with mod note. We do not judge based on sexual orientation just as we do not judge based on skin colour. MMW is NOT a theological site. Please understand this. (And anyways, even on theological grounds there have been some challenges to what is commonly believed). Homosexual Muslims can be just as Muslim as heterosexual ones. That is my own approach. I will not make any distinctions between them.
To me, as a contributor, it is a political site. We tackles issues regarding how Muslim women are depicted in media and pop culture. And this includes all media and pop culture that we can access.
“I personally find that you employ a very modernist deconstructive attitude in analyzing how the media portrays Muslims. You’re essentially communicating that you want to portray a wide spectrum of opinions and presentations of Muslim women, but you tear down and criticize any views which do not fall into your pluralistic agenda and personal views of how Muslim women should be presented in the media. Isn’t that kind of contradictory?”
How is this contradictory? Most writers have a perspective and paradigm from which they write. If we did not then we would be inconsistent. I cannot be anti-racist one day and then right-wing, neo-conservative the next. It wouldn’t make sense. I will follow one paradigm and write my critiques based on that. And part of my paradigm is inclusiveness. Of course inclusiveness has its limits. I will not and cannot include Islamophobes or racists. That would compromise my ethics. Similarly I will not include certain perspectives from the Muslim side either if they compromise my own ethics of writing. For instance, if a Muslim presents women in misogynistic ways I will call him/her out on it because such depictions hurt women in the end. And as far as agendas are concerned – we ALL have agendas. You do, I do, we all do. We are subjective beings and see things through subjective eyes, not objective ones. Our experiences shape what we like and don’t like, what we want and don’t want, what we see and don’t see, what we feel and don’t feel, etc. There really is no way to not have an agenda.
“I have read several analyses posted on this site which deconstruct articles or posts sentence by sentence: ”
Yes, and that is the point of those posts. When I do that I am doing it because I consider language of utmost importance. To me, language shapes the way we view the world. Most post-modernists and social constructionists will agree. Therefore, if I believe that language has that much power then indeed I will pick it apart. Its power needs to be deconstructed as far as I am concerned.
“If you are pandering to a Western academic audience by breaking down and criticizing Muslim viewpoints, then I personally feel that this entire endeavour is self-defeatist.”
I am a Western academic. Many Muslims are. Why do you view us as problematic? Again, picking things apart is the whole point. And we break down all viewpoints – Muslim and non-Muslim. In fact, non-Muslim more.
“In order for Muslims to achieve any meaningful headway in Western, and global, societies, we need to do it in our own terms, not caught up in pointless arguments which centre around the minutae of sentence structure.”
I agree. And that is exactly what I’m doing. What I write here and the way I critique is on my own terms. Not anyone else’s. Its a little presumptuous of you to assume that we somehow are lacking agency in determining our own terms.
“f you start attacking Islamic pieces and do not have enough Islamic knowledge to know the difference between attacking what is the personal, cultural bias in the piece and what is actual Islam- then you are doing yourself and others a great disservice.”
Again, this is NOT a theological site. We talk about Muslims and not Islam. However, as I said earlier we all have our own experiences and thus have our own interpretations or beliefs regarding Islam. Therefore, those beliefs will be in the backs of our heads as we write. And what those beliefs, knowledge, or interpretations are readers will not know and should not judge. You do not know that we don’t know just as you don’t know that we do know. Just because you may not agree with our interpretations does not mean we do not know or have not done our research. Again, you’re being very presumptuous.
We don’t present Islam per se here. We present analyses of images of Muslim women. Two different things.
“I urge you to leave behind the egotistical academic approach when reading this post and try to understand the meaning of what I am attempting to convey. Breaking down a piece of writing sentence by sentence does not make you smarter or more cultured or more open or enlightened.”
So because I’m an academic I’m egotistical? We’ve never claimed to be smarter or more cultured. Not sure how you interpreted that. Again, we have certain perspectives from which we write, and I for one will continue to write from the perspective that makes me feel comfortable. Thanks for your suggestions and taking the time. Now excuse this egotistical academic so she can do some school work.
To FAM:
I’d like to know how MMW is somehow promoting homosexuality? Is it because it is discussed? Because I’ve been reading this blog for awhile now and I never seen anyone here actually “promote” homosexuality. What does that really mean, anyways? O_O