Strangest Photo of the Week

I saw this photo on MSNBC.  The caption was: Afghan women learn how to make a doll at an April 15 workshop in Kandahar sponsored by a Malaysian nongovernmental organization called Mercy. Some 80 women participate in every workshop despite rising tensions in the city between the Taliban and NATO troops.

Wearing a Niqab While Driving

Would you really want to be in a car where the driver is wearing a niqab (a full face veil with an open slit for the eyes)?  Doesn’t it seem reasonable that the driver’s sight would be restricted?  Well, last month, a French police officer gave a ticket to woman who was wearing a niqab, [...]

Update: Hissa Helal Finishes Third in Abu Dhabi’s “Million’s Poet”

Hissa Helal (or Hilal) was the woman who, wearing a burqa, made it to the final round of the Abu Dhabi TV show Million’s Poet by delivering a poem against Muslim preachers “who sit in the position of power” but are “frightening” people with their fatwas, or religious edicts, and “preying like a wolf” on [...]

Soccer, Golf, Tiger Woods, and Martha Burk

There have been some interesting reports lately about women and sports. The Asian Football Confederation (the governing body sanctioned by FIFA to control soccer in the Asia region), has ruled that the Iran girls’ soccer team cannot compete in the six-nation soccer tournament in Singapore that is part of the 3,600 athlete Youth Olympics.  The [...]

Update: Last Episode of “Million’s Poet” Postponed

Last week, I wrote about the Abu Dhabi TV show Million’s Poet, in which Hissa Helal (or Hilal) had made it to the final round of the program by delivering a poem against Muslim preachers “who sit in the position of power” but are “frightening” people with their fatwas, or religious edicts, and “preying like [...]

More Views on France’s Move to Ban the Burqa

I have written multiple times on the French move to ban the wearing of the burqa.  (For instance, see this and this and this.)  The final decision has not yet been made.  The Guardian has yes-no opinions by Mona Eltahawy, an “Egyptian-born columnist and lecturer on Arab and Muslim issues,” and Stephanie Street, a “British [...]

Taliban Moves Back into Northern Afghanistan Province and Clamps Down on Women

The northern Afghanistan province of Kunduz had been mostly free of Taliban controls since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.  But, in the past year, the Taliban have regained much control in the province.   This has led to the U.S. military shifting its emphasis on the south and east of Afghanistan to now include [...]

A New Twist on Whether France Would Be Justified in Banning the Burqa

On many occasions, this blog has written about the issue of the French government’s proposal to ban the wearing of a burqa in all public places.  (For instance, see these posts in December and October.)   Emily and I have disagreed about the proposed ban.  I wrote that enacting such a ban was a positive step [...]

Britain Joins Debate Over the Burqa

In my last post about French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s support for a proposed ban on women wearing burqas in all public places, I wrote that he had essentially stopped trying to say he was proposing the ban in order to help women’s rights and now was simply showing his prejudice against Muslims. His countrymen shared [...]

Update: South Africa’s President Zuma Takes a Third Wife

Yesterday, I wrote about the multiple wives that South African President Jacob Zuma has taken.  I mused about whether I would have any arguments against a custom of polygamy if both women and men were allowed to have multiple spouses.  Today, I saw this post on Salon Broadsheet about Saudi female journalist Nadine Behair, who [...]

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