The Maldives’ state-run television stations will no longer employ women who wear hejab in an effort to quell the spread of militant Islam, as a response to a September 29 bombing in the country’s capital by fundamentalists. While their efforts include some good ideas (i.e., ceasing the glorification of a holy war), this one is […]

Buthayna Nasser, a Saudi TV broadcaster, debates excellently about her rights and equality to man under Islam. She kicks ass and takes names, in fact. So what’s the problem? How her views are interpreted. The title for the clip (played during the clip) is: “Debate on Women Appearing on Saudi TV.” But Ritter1001, the poster […]

No matter what your feelings are on Benazir Bhutto, you have to admit this caption is really poorly-worded: If not simply in poor taste, the caption also raises the question of sexism: if the newspaper was investigating a man, would the word “booty” have been used?

The following originally appeared at the blog FreeWriters. Browsing the Guardian‘s web site earlier this week, I came across a picture of four hijabis*. I don’t know what it is about me, but as soon as I see a veil / headscarf / bearded bro / muslimah / anything related to Islam / Muslims – […]

Everybody’s jumping on the “Ban Hejab” bandwagon these days. For Germany and Canada, it’s done in the name of secular society and “equality.” For Turkey and Tajikistan, it’s done in the name of secularism, too, but also as a distinct agenda to curtail religious influence in popular opinion and government. The idea of banning hejab […]

In case you haven’t heard, Canada announced Thursday that it would allow niqabis* to vote with their faces covered, prompting everything from voter fraud concerns to xenophobic comments from lawmakers. Since this has been such a big deal lately (it’s all over Google’s news search), reporter James Mennie from newspaper The Gazette had a bright […]

The BBC reports that “A political row has broken out in Switzerland over a campaign poster from the right-wing Swiss People’s Party….” The poster that everyone is mad about is pictured here, because I couldn’t find a picture of the other one: it’s three white sheep kicking a black sheet off of Switzerland’s flag. While […]