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
Research and publications
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!
I know I'm not supermodel material, but please objectify me too! aka my feminist rage against naked calendars
A few nights ago I sat down in a brainstorming session with a group of very eager female Oxford undergrads where we talked about the next Ladyfest Oxford programme next May and about who was going to organise what. You might be pleased to know that yours truly has volunteered to organise a workshop on… Continue reading I know I'm not supermodel material, but please objectify me too! aka my feminist rage against naked calendars
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?
Untitled
OBAMA wins! To the U.S.: Well done! Anyone else feels just as happy (or exhausted after staying up so late being glued to the TV) as I am?
A Malay poem for Black History Month
Since it’s Black History Month in Britain, I’d like to feature an unlikely poem by Malaysia’s greatest poet and dramatist, Usman Awang (1929-2001). Written in 1971, ‘Suara Blues’ (Voices of the Blues) is a critique of Western hegemony and racism. It is also a kind of clarion call for the return to ‘the centre’, the… Continue reading A Malay poem for Black History Month
What is Islamic feminism?
There seems to be a lot of confusion about what Islamic feminism is for Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Many who aren’t Muslim are quick to label Islam as a repressive religion especially to its womankind, and so essentially any kind of feminism a Muslim espouses can’t be real feminism. Many Muslims, however, don’t see the… Continue reading What is Islamic feminism?
Alicia Izharuddin 