If you missed my web chat with Muslim Voices yesterday, you can see the entire thing at their website.
It was a great experience–I answered questions from readers about Muslims, media representation, and even a little bit about Miss USA. Check it out!
Thanks to everyone who participated, and thanks to Muslim Voices for the invitation!
On today’s Comment is free, I write about the positives in Miss USA’s win:
Although Fakih has won the Miss USA crown, she’ll never win everybody over. American conservatives are foaming at the mouth about her spurious connections to Hezbollah, and many feminists are disapproving of her win because it came from another sexist doll factory. Women like Fakih face double trouble when they achieve any type of success: she’s a win for Arab-Americans, but a loss for women in general. She represents the diverse facets of Muslim Americana, but she also represents the impossible cultural standards that women in this country are supposed to live up to.
I am so sick of hearing about burqa bans. It seems like entire European continent has jumped on this idiot bandwagon.
In case you didn’t catch my radio interviews earlier this week, I wrote about why Belgium’s recent ban on face veils is exceedingly stupid at AltMuslimah.
If you missed me on The Jeff Farias show Monday, you can listen to the entire May 3, 2010 podcast here.
If you’d rather just download an .mp3 of my interview, you can download/listen to it here.
Listen to Nadine Moawad and me on Australian 3CR “Accent of Women” program for World Press Freedom Day!
You can download an .mp3 of the program here.
Happy listening!
…then I’ll see you there!
On March 9, 2010, I’ll be appearing on a panel discussion put on by UC Berkeley, titled Islam, Social Lives and Online Networking. I’ll be in wonderful company; joining me are a list of wonderful friends and inspiring contemporaries:
Pretty amazing list of people, right?
Here’s the poster:
You can find out more about the panel here, and register to attend the (free) panel here. Come check us out!
Over at Racialicious, I give my thoughts on W magazine’s July 2009 article, “The Persian Conquest of Beverly Hills.” Check it!:
Knowing the history of glossies and their historic portrayal of racial ethnicities more as props than as cover stories, I was simultaneously worried and intrigued—how would W fare as documenters rather than voyeurs?
I’ve written a list of “dos & don’ts” about the difficulties with non-Muslim interaction with Muslim women. Check it:
Being an ally is the same as being a true friend: respecting my wishes, even if you may want something different for me; helping me when I need it, without thinking me helpless; and viewing me as an entire person.
Neda Agha-Soltani was fatally shot during a protest in Iran on Saturday, June 20, 2009.
May God give her peace and justice.
Several news outlets have reported on her death, and several opinion-makers have heralded her tragic end as a martyrdom for Iran’s opposition movement.
While I understand that every movement needs its martyr (this is Shi’a Iran we’re talking about–Time explains it for those of you not familiar with the importance of martyrdom in the Shi’a sect), I don’t understand the necessity for the image of her last moments to be splashed across news outlets.
Her last moments were filled with shock and drama, as onlookers attempted to stop the bleeding from the fatal gunshot wound in her chest. They realized they could not help as she began to hemorrhage, and blood ran from her nose, ears, and mouth.
But she is dead now.
And instead of being put to rest, her final, bloody image is being strewn across blogs and Twitter.
The cruelty and horror of Neda’s death may be a call to action, but her death mask shouldn’t.
I’ve written more at Muslimah Media Watch.
I talk more about the Iranian election aftermath more on ReligionDispatches:
During the weekend, there was almost no coverage of the protests and riots. Some news agencies, including Al Arabiya, had their offices closed, and state networks in Iran didn’t report on any of the civil unrest. So we turned to Twitter. Thanks to Twitterers from Iran, we’re getting a picture. But how complete is it? A majority of those Twittering seem to be Mousavi supporters. I kept getting a gnawing feeling, like I couldn’t see the forest for the trees.
Fatemeh Fakhraie 