In an early sequence of a 1991 Channel Four television feature, Northern Crescent (a film about the white-Asian conflicts in Britain following the Rushdie affair), shows a new primary school headmaster, Mr. West, who introduces himself at assembly to his students, most of whom are of Pakistani ancestry. Mr. West asks the students to name… Continue reading Migration: Belonging and displacement
Category: Culture
Retro pop orientalism: Dissecting Alison Moyet's 'Love Resurrection'
Written for and (soon to be) cross-posted at Muslimah Media Watch As we all know, pop culture can’t get enough of ‘the mysterious Orient’ and its ubiquitous exotic women. The 80s New Romanticism movement is a case in point. Known for its exaggerated and often outrageous attitudes to fashion and music, the movement inspired pop… Continue reading Retro pop orientalism: Dissecting Alison Moyet's 'Love Resurrection'
Foreign bodies as sexual playgrounds
This post was featured in the first Asian Women Blog Carnival at ciderpress’s blog. So there was this American guy, Jake, who sat with Gareth and me at lunch last Saturday and was telling us how much he wanted to go to Malaysia because it’s apparently a great place to meet women, and claimed that… Continue reading Foreign bodies as sexual playgrounds
Malaysian mail-order brides: what fairy tale?
Excerpted from The New Straits Times: Once upon a time, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella had to battle witches and overcome spells to find Prince Charming. Now, young women are discovering that the road leading to “happily-ever-after” is wider, shorter and much less of an obstacle course. In recent years, a large number of… Continue reading Malaysian mail-order brides: what fairy tale?
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
Every woman's "big day" – what is it for?
Originally written by Bidisha at The Guardian’s Comment Is Free under the title, Wedlock throws away the key: Wedlock. It’s the kind of word that ought to send chills down a modern woman’s spine. It describes with deadly aptness the prison-like qualities of that institution and evokes a cold sense of confinement and consignment. An… Continue reading Every woman's "big day" – what is it for?
Book review: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin
By special guest contributor, Gareth: A few months ago, Alicia asked me why science fiction was such a boy thing and what is the point of the genre. I cobbled together an answer about science fiction being used to create a narrative space removed from the here and now into which pertinent questions and ideas… Continue reading Book review: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin
Book review: The Secret Life of Syrian Lingerie – Intimacy and Design by Malu Halasa and Rana Salam
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
A fatwa against yoga? and how would this reflect on Muslims?
Originally posted on The Other Malaysia and Farish Noor’s Facebook notes! Since I became an activist at the age of nineteen, I have spent more than two decades of my life defending Muslims and the image of Islam. During my twenty-two years of living in Europe, I must have attended hundreds of conferences, seminars, public… Continue reading A fatwa against yoga? and how would this reflect on Muslims?
Shame and stupidity: a brief history of Malaysian womanhood
Malaysian women of different cultures and ethinicities welcome visitors from abroad in their colourful traditional costumes. They all smile benignly, and they all look beautiful. This is the ‘Malaysia, truly Asia’ tourism campaign. But wait – the lady in the sari (second from left) does not look Indian at all; she’s very light-skinned unlike the… Continue reading Shame and stupidity: a brief history of Malaysian womanhood
Alicia Izharuddin 