There is an absurd amount of focus on modesty and women when Islam requires that both sexes incorporate modesty into their lifestyles. This is because we live in a patriarchal society in which men believe they have a right to women's bodies--and also because such societies encourage the development of reputation over character: modesty is …
How to Write Female Characters
When my friends proudly disclose in introductions that “She’s a writer and her stories are great!” I am often promptly asked for either manuscripts or advice. Inevitably, I end up with loads of essays to edit from those who are convinced that writers and editors are the same thing. (To be fair, writers are good …
Jewish women were raped during the Holocaust.
I am so infuriated. Infuriated isn't even... #%@*&#*! There is no word for what I'm feeling right now.But the mixture does not include surprise. From the link:Jewish women were raped and sexually abused by Nazi guards, but also by liberators, people who hid them, aid givers, partisans and even fellow prisoners. Judy Weiszenberg Cohen, an …
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English idioms
Susan: Hey pot. This is kettle. You're black. Pot and Kettle. What a pair we are!Nahida: I want to be a pan.Susan: . . . As long as you're a black pan.Nahida: No, no, a teapot. Why black?Susan: Because the whole point, is that the pot is calling the kettle black. But teapots usually aren't …
I am issuing a fatwa on bananas.*
I despise bananas. I hate the texture, I hate the slimy stickiness, I hate those strings that hang off of them, I hate how they make everything around them reek of their insufferable stench, and I hate that different areas of them can rot at different times and you have to knife it out.**Fruits that …
thoughts on Islam as an organized religion and the relevance to sectarianism
I have well documented issues with sectarianism. But I've often wondered if it is logically possible to not be part of a sect in actual practice within an organized religion? Human beings are often inclined to define things as the opposite of other things, so what is it that prevents someone from saying "she's part …
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About the Section Dedicated to "Women in Islamic History"
Much of the practice of Islam is based largely on tradition, most of which as been erased or completely made up, and so--in addition to the fact that I love good stories--the purpose of Women in Islamic History is to demonstrate that tradition was dangerously modified to appeal to the needs of deplorable men. And …
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the fatal feminist 