I always credit my mother for giving me my feminist soul. From the earliest days of my childhood in Bangladesh, mom would always take me to all her women’s rights activist events. When she began to get involved in the publishing world to launch her own magazine Ananya for Bangladeshi women, I used to sit […]
All In The Family: Three Bangladeshi Women of Inspiration Read More »
I was on Russia Today (RT) live yesterday evening discussing something I had never heard about until I was asked to come and talk about it: Islamoeroticism. Now one can imagine just from the name alone how controversial this latest series of art has caused both in the Muslim world and beyond. I argue that
Islamoeroticism or Art? Read More »
According to Chinese State media, when local residents first discovered the bodies of 21 babies along the riverbank, they thought they were toys. The babies, who ranged in age from newborns to several months, had hospital tags linking them back to the Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University, a city in eastern China. It is
Watering Your Neighbor’s Garden: The Global War On Baby Girls Read More »
The dust is still settling in Washington after the resignation of White House Staffer and close Obama insider, Desirée Rogers. As Social Secretary to the Obamas, the task at hand for Rogers was to project the glamor of the First Couple. The New York Times credits Rogers with “personifying the fresh, new-generation approach that the
Too Powerful or Too Black? The Fall of White House Staffer Desirée Rogers Read More »
In continuing with celebrating Women’s History Month, I think it is important to shed light on the sheer stupidity of many nations, especially in the “Developing World”, to not tap into women as a major resource. Obviously this has huge implications for the economies of these countries. A few years ago, the United Nations released
The Price Of Excluding Women: World Economic Forum Tracks Gender Pay Gaps Read More »
The other day, I was reading this post about how Japan’s Princess Aiko has been missing school because of bullying by some boys at her elementary school. While this news is disturbing in itself, what caught my attention was the reference the article made to Aiko’s mother, Princess Masako. Anybody remember this woman? Her story
The Case of Japan’s Princess Masako: Sons Over Daughters Read More »
It is always a good recipe for the media to sexualize the mystique which surrounds the ever elusive Muslim woman: Is she a burqa-clad victim of her own religion, or a strong woman of choices who is forever fighting off labels and stereotypes? Or is she a supportive partner to her terrorist male counterpart, plotting
The Real Questions We Should Be Asking “Lady Al-Qaeda” Read More »
The issue of banning the burqa in France has generated so much heat over the past few months that one would assume the ban had already come into effect. Not so. Since French President Nicolas Sarkozy famously stated that, “the burqa is not a religious sign, it is a sign of the subjugation, of the submission
For France, Banning The Burqa Is Not The Answer Read More »
During the 2008 Presidential Campaign, I felt as though coming to the defense of Hillary Clinton was my job. I think it is fair to say that the level of attacks- both personal and professional- that were mounted on this woman were of a height and intensity rarely seen. Anybody remember the Hillary Clinton nutcracker
Why The Attacks On Hillary Clinton Must Stop Read More »
In a post 9-11 world, perhaps nothing has come to represent the subjugation of Muslim women the way the burqa has. Despite the fact that it comes in various styles, each providing its own degree of covering such as the niqab or the chador, which many Muslim women choose to wear, it is the full
Making The Burqa Sexy: A New Frontier In Advertising? Read More »