Gender

Join the Ex-Hijabi Fashion Photo Journal!

  I’m very excited about launching this new project: the Ex-Hijabi Fashion Photo Journal! Featuring ex-hijabis with awesome hairstyles and tattoos and piercings. Ex-hijabis in bikinis and little black dresses and cargo pants and hiking boots. Ex-hijabis who are femme and ex-hijabis who are butch. Ex-hijabis who are women and …

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Gender

Don’t Judge a Woman by her Cover: the Hijab and Unethical Judgments

Please don’t judge hijabis for reasons pertaining to their hijab. And I know this is a request that might make us all start with the ‘but theys…’. Let’s hold off on that for a minute. Because I’ve done it too. I do still, sometimes, and catch myself. Even though I …

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Gender

Why “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” sucks

  I loved the new X-Men movie. So when the generalized chatter about the other superhero movie in theaters ran in the direction of pleasant surprise and praise, I snuck out of the house late last night to catch The Amazing Spider-Man 2 on the big screen (don’t judge — …

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Gender

4 Things You Should Stop Doing Re: Amal Alamuddin & George Clooney

Hi! First of all, if you haven’t heard the news about my retiring this blog and moving on, you can read it here. I don’t usually talk about this stuff, and it’s been some time since the news of their engagement, but these reactions have been accumulating slowly and fallen …

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Gender

“Why do Muslim women accept and believe these things anyway?”

  There is this question I continually hear, when the inequalities and oppressions rampant in Muslim societies are being discussed, and it is this: Why do Muslim women accept and believe these things anyway? This is likely the most important question you can ask, but it can also be disappointingly …

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GenderHuman Rights

No, Doc, you are NOT a hero for telling my daddy I’m a virgin

  Hey! Guess what the subject of this blog post is! Virginity tests! Again!!! Joy! But first, here is a bit of a preamble talking about my tone in this piece and my approach regarding critique of Islam in general. If you don’t want to hear it, you can scroll …

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Gender

Empowering? Really?

When I asked this question as a little girl, here is the answer I was given: “Women are just created by Allah in such a way that the responsibility lies with them. With great beauty comes great responsibility.” Hahaha, what the fuck, honestly. I understand that there are women who …

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FamilyGender

A Conversation With My Mother

This week, my mother dragged me along with her to visit a shrine. She wanted to pay her respects to an Islamic Saint buried there. Apparently, he was well known locally for his preaching efforts and his so-called ‘Supernatural Talent’. On our way, my mother took great enthusiasm in filling …

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Gender

Sex and Virginity When Consent is Not a Consideration

[Content note: Sexual assault, rape] I’m trying this new thing where I blog more frequently, and allow myself to post shorter pieces. I’ve tended to stick to long-form essays because with them I can delve into an in-depth exploration, tussle with details, fan out layers of nuance. And I will …

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Gender

Ex-Hijabi Interviews and the Underrepresentation of Ex-Muslim Women

[UPDATE: The Huffington Post has published the Ex-Hijabi interviews; find them HERE.] A few weeks ago, Valerie Tarico, a psychologist, author, and journalist, released a piece in the Huffington Post entitled “Is the Hijab A Symbol of Diversity or a Symbol of Oppression?” While I was glad to finally see …

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