The fabulous Orbala presented yesterday at a conference in UC Berkeley on the question of whether misogyny in the Muslim community towards Muslim women is a form of Islamophobia. Before she'd posed the question on Facebook to explore this construction, Orbala and I had a discussion about its implications. She asked, "How [meaning how is …
Continue reading Misogyny in the Muslim Community as Islamophobia
When I was small, my schoolyard friends would gasp in shock at the idea of going without food or water for as long as a drop of sunlight hit the pavement. ("All day?" they'd marvel with the same tone that they'd ask, "You run THAT fast?") Pleased with the astonished reaction, I would boast that …
Continue reading “Not Even Birthday Cake?”; Coping With (Non-Muslims’) Reactions During Ramadan
Most people, especially most religious people, are not aware that they are not living in a vacuum. They aren't aware that their words and actions are politically charged, or of the wider implications and interpretational consequences. They think they are just being religious. They think they are just being religious and living their lives even …
Continue reading When ordinary Muslims say things in the media (and it sounds outrageous)
I am writing this post despite the sense that the last three posts I wrote unrelated to Islam are about race and I am kind of eyeing how it throws off my usual variation here. Before I introduce all the twitter drama, let me recount the incident to which it refers—infamously christened EG, or ElevatorGate. …
Continue reading “White atheists are the WORST!”: Discrepancies in Identifying Racism
I've been quiet about this. I can't really describe what I'm feeling. It's almost a scary calm when I'm in a hazy detached state, except when I actually focus my mind on it, at which point I want to sob uncontrollably.The terrorist was an anti-feminist white supremacist Islamophobe.Becky summarizes the events:I'm sure most of you …
the fatal feminist 