First published at Feminist Review. (Thanks Mandy!) If many postmodern feminists would have it, colour or“race” wouldn’t be of primary concern in theorising oppression; a woman would be seen as much more than her race, class, and sexuality. In other words, every woman’s experience of oppression is nuanced, different. And if the postmodern approach is… Continue reading Book review: Women of colour and feminism
Category: Books
Ramadhan book club: Our Stories, Our Lives
Originally published at Muslimah Media Watch, with thanks to The Policy Press. Our Stories, Our Lives is an anthology of a diverse group of women in Bradford, England, offering a glimpse into their lives and their issues with reconciling their Muslim identities with being British. With the media’s daily onslaught on the image of Muslims… Continue reading Ramadhan book club: Our Stories, Our Lives
Book cover of the day: The Haunted Vagina by Carlton Mellick III
Apparently, this is the author’s best work: “It’s difficult to love a woman whose vagina is a gateway to the world of the dead . . .” Book description: Steve falls madly in love with Stacy, but it isn’t until they move in together that he hears voices coming from Stacy’s southern junction. When a… Continue reading Book cover of the day: The Haunted Vagina by Carlton Mellick III
Pink is for tween Muslimahs
Update: An extended version of this post can be found at Muslimah Media Watch It had to happen sooner or later. With Barbie and now Hannah Montana merchandise dominating the tween to early teenage market in Malaysia, products for young Muslim women in hijab are starting to appear, particularly on the bookshelves. And they look… Continue reading Pink is for tween Muslimahs
Review: Walking the precipice: Witness to the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan
Crossposted at Feminist Review: A deluge of books on Islamic fundamentalism had swamped the world’s bookshelves following the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Some 100 books and 5,600 articles were written on the subject, many focussing on the lives of Afghan women under Taliban rule. I chose to review Barbara Bick’s Walking the Precipice: Witness… Continue reading Review: Walking the precipice: Witness to the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan
On medieval interfaith insults
In the fairly early days of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, dissing each other with crude language was all the rage. Alexandra Cuffel’s new book Gendering Disgust in Medieval Religious Polemic (2009, University of Notre Dame Press) shows how late antique purity laws and biological theories help provide a repertoire of filth from which the rival… Continue reading On medieval interfaith insults
Books from my pre-feminist days
The past is a foreign country: people read different things there. While currently surrounded by books of a feminist nature, I would revisit from time to time my old books from salad days, and think about how much (or little) I’ve matured in my reading taste. As a teenager approaching early adulthood, I had an… Continue reading Books from my pre-feminist days
Book review: Ombak Bukan Biru by Fatimah Busu
Fatimah Busu has a gift for telling stories of social alienation. Her stories are often a provocative social critique of Malay society but are easily accessible and good for philosophical rumination. In Salam Maria, her protagonist is a misfit, a social castoff who is forced to the depths of the forest to live with those… Continue reading Book review: Ombak Bukan Biru by Fatimah Busu
Weekend round-up of favourite online reads 11/1
My current obsession with feminist science fiction led me to brilliant reviews of Vandana Singh’s The Woman Who Thought She Was a Planet at both The F-Word and Ultrabrown. In my earlier post on Islam and feminism in SF I mentioned a few times about how the genre is used to critique some grand narratives… Continue reading Weekend round-up of favourite online reads 11/1
Notes on Islam and feminism in science fiction
I’ve been reading a lot about feminist science fiction lately, mostly of out fascination for its philosophical what-ifs and fantastic plots and situations. And as a casual reader of the genre rather than a fan, I am intrigued by the questions raised by feminist science fiction writers about culture and heteronormativity (guest contributor Gareth shares… Continue reading Notes on Islam and feminism in science fiction
Alicia Izharuddin 