Spoiler alert: this post discusses important plot points. This past weekend I finally went to see Slumdog Millionaire. I have to admit that I loved the film and Jamal’s rags-to -riches tale. The film has a fairytale bent that makes it likable (who doesn’t like for the beat up hero to overcome and be happy […]

It wasn’t but several years ago when a Google search for “gay Muslims” or “lesbian Muslims” turned up few results on actual people, mainly just pages on why homosexuality is a sin in Islam and perhaps one or two articles, usually focusing on men. Since then there’s been an increase in profiles on people who […]

This was written by Cycads and originally published at her blog. Syria’s unlikely notoriety for racy underwear collides head on with the stereotyped image of the veiled and prudish Muslim woman. In a way, ‘The Secret Life of Syrian Lingerie‘ (2008, Chronicle Books) had come at an opportune time to dispel these fossilised images, but […]

A recent Reuters article vaguely described sexual harassment in Libya by blaming it on “antiquated male attitudes that decades of gender equality reforms have failed to dislodge.” While it is true that Libyan law sets the foundation for female equality, it was never properly enacted. To say that there have been “decades of gender equality […]

Recently, Australia’s ABC National Radio show, The Religion Report, covered the issue of racism experienced by Muslim women. In light of a recent Australian report entitled “Race, Faith and Gender” published by the Islamic Women’s Welfare Council of Victoria that assessed the impact of racism on Muslim women, host David Rutledge interviewed Joumanah El Matra, […]

On December 20th, 23-year-old model Sahar Daftary died as a result of a fall from the 12th story of an apartment building in Greater Manchester (inna lillahi wa inna illaihi raji’un). May Allah have mercy on her soul. The death of this former Face of Asia has spurred many speculations in British media as to […]

This was originally published on ISNA and Payvand. It has been edited for clarity. The first award for female Iranian poets will be awarded in the week of December 21-27 (first week of the Iranian month of Dey).   According to the news agency ISNA, in the news conference held on November 23rd, seven works […]

Dubai’s leading U.A.E.-based international property developer, Hydra Properties, recently announced plans to build an all-female office tower for businesswomen. I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I dislike it because it promotes segregation of the sexes and further perpetuates the idea that women need ‘different’ facilities in order to succeed in the workforce. […]

MMW would like to thank Thabet for the tip! Katherine Zopf’s Sunday article in The New York Times about flight attendants in the Emirates set off quite a storm in the blogosphere. And rightly so: it’s often eye-rollingly essentializing when discussing Arab women and society. But why waste my breath when others said it better? […]

I am a 21-year-old spinster. Yes, a spinster at 21. In my country, although many many Egyptian women are delaying getting married until they’re in their mid-to-late twenties, society still looks at them with a critical, disapproving gaze. “Men and women were made for one another. You are a sinister spinster.” “Better a man’s shadow […]