June 2011

Not So Lovely: Bollywood Promotes Skin Bleaching

Friday night I was live on Canada’s CBC discussing the role Bollywood plays in establishing beauty standards for South Asian women, telling us that lighter skin makes us beautiful, a myth which feeds the ridiculous marketing of whitening creams in the region. Although this is a topic I have covered in the past, nothing has changed. …

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Starting the Engine: Saudi Women Drive for Their Rights

The spirit of the Arab Spring broke the steel gates of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia today as one by one Saudi women started their engines, defying the country’s notorious ban on women driving, the only place  in the world where women are not permitted to drive. Today’s protest is the culmination of an online …

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Syria: An Open Letter to Angelina Jolie

Dear Angelina Jolie, I am writing to you about Syria and the ongoing bloodshed we are watching across the country every day. You may have seen the consistent coverage in the news recently about the latest country in the Middle East to join the “Arab Spring.” Despite excitement over pro-democracy movements successfully removing dictators in …

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Virginity Tests: Time to Let Gender Out of Revolution’s Closet

There is no doubt that the recent revolution in Egypt got the wheels of the Arab Spring rolling. But just as quick as women were to flood the corners of Tahrir Square and the streets of Cairo in the hopes of a democratic Egypt, their voices were soon sidelined. This is nothing uncommon. Even in …

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