Syria’s unlikely notoriety for racy underwear collides head on with the stereotyped image of the veiled and prudish Muslim woman. In a way, ‘The Secret Life of Syrian Lingerie‘ (2008, Chronicle Books) had come at an opportune time to dispel these fossilised images, but at the same time will feed to a ‘Western’ obsession with… Continue reading Book review: The Secret Life of Syrian Lingerie – Intimacy and Design by Malu Halasa and Rana Salam
Author: Angry Malay Woman
I like plants.
Happy awal Muharram and secular New Year!
I’d like to wish every reader a wonderful Islamic and secular New Year! May 2009/1430 bring us more peace and happiness. As for those new year’s resolutions, I’m planning on upgrading my library with more books on gender studies with a postcolonialist slant and Malay novels (because you can never have enough books), but paradoxically,… Continue reading Happy awal Muharram and secular New Year!
Book review: Contrary Visions – Women and Work in Malay Novels Written by Women by Christine Campbell
Despite the clunky title, Contrary Visions (2004, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka) offers a rather comprehensive review of novels by Malay women written between 1940 and 1995, including a couple of early Indonesian novels thrown in for good, hazy archipelagoan measure. Alongside Virginia Hooker’s Writing a New Society: Social Change Through the Novel in Malay (2000),… Continue reading Book review: Contrary Visions – Women and Work in Malay Novels Written by Women by Christine Campbell
Year end hiatus
Allow me to take this opportunity to thank you for visiting my fledgling blog these last few months. I would also like to thank all the blogs that were kind enough to promote my little corner of thoughts. This blog started out as a project to practice my writing skills and an extension of my… Continue reading Year end hiatus
Happy Eid al-Adha
Wishing all Muslims a blessed Eid al-Adha and Selamat Hari Raya Haji! More great pictures of Eid al-Adha celebrated around world at The Guardian.
For Muslim women, the personal is political
The recent fatwa on assumed female homosexuality has opened another can of worms. Yet again, the Malaysian religious authorities insist on tightening their grip on Muslim women by policing the way they dress, and who they choose to love, without fully understanding the complex nature of human sexuality. Meanwhile, a worrying proportion of the Malaysian… Continue reading For Muslim women, the personal is political
Reinforcing stereotypes through romance – Mills and Boon style
I have never read a Mills and Boon novel in my entire life, and am proud of it. I can go as far as to say that touching them might soil my hands. Even during my girls school days – a time to channel all that naughty hormones into sleazy paperbacks, I hardly knew about… Continue reading Reinforcing stereotypes through romance – Mills and Boon style
Open thread: Films you've watched this year and loved, or hated.
I’ve been lucky to have the opportunity to watch pretty much any film I want whilst living here in the UK. And if you, like me, love watching films, you would agree that there’s no place better than where there is little to no form of censorship. In the last few years, I have been… Continue reading Open thread: Films you've watched this year and loved, or hated.
Nafsu buas: the politics of imagined lust in Malaysia
‘Animalistic lust’ (nafsu buas) is a common spice in Malay tales of adulterous wives, transgender paramours, and homosexual men and women. ‘Animalistic’ or ‘buas‘ here is a blanket term for all that is unbridled and transgressive. Though derived from the Arabic word to mean ‘soul’, ‘nafsu‘ is often accompanied with pejorative connotations, and it is… Continue reading Nafsu buas: the politics of imagined lust in Malaysia
The Brass Crescent Awards and Superior Scribbler Award!
This is what not blogging for the last couple of weeks gives me – a Brass Crescent Award nomination and a Superior Scribbler Award (thank you again Tanglad for this honour)! My infant blog has been nominated for the ‘Best Asian Blog‘, and if you would like to vote for *me* (I’m up against the… Continue reading The Brass Crescent Awards and Superior Scribbler Award!
Alicia Izharuddin 