Quick Read: Muslimah Media Watch on Neda and the Media

Take a minute to read this really great post by Fatemah at Muslimah Media Watch on the media's use of Neda Agha-Soltani's image after her death:

Aside from the talk that she is a martyr for Iran’s opposition movement, many in the West are using her death to educate themselves about Iran’s current crisis, viewing Iran through a lens of violence and cruelty, which many add to their current knowledge of the country as repressive, backward, and unsafe for Americans. Neda’s death may help Iranians band closer together and become stronger in their fight for a government that treats them with respect, but here in the West, her lifeless body is little more than another reminder of the instability and danger of “over there”.

What difference has her death made here in the West? As far as I can tell, the only Western response to her death (aside from the gruesome fact that her last moments are a now common fixture on blogs and news sites) has been a website, weareallneda.com, where mourners can leave messages to a Neda who cannot read them. Below the site’s banner is a stylized rendering of her lifeless face amid a river of blood, shown above left.

The cruelty and horror of Neda’s death may be a call to action, but her death mask shouldn’t.

You can find it here.

How to use our ally voices

I'm just going to let Fatemah of Mulismnista and Muslimah Media Watch speak for herself in An Open Letter to White Non-Muslim Western Feminists:

Knowing some Muslim women through work or as friends does not give you the authority to speak for them or the rest of Muslim women.

There are those of us who suffer. But don’t speak of us as victims if we are not dead. Don’t deny the agency with which we become survivors and active shapers of our lives. Don’t ignore the fighting we do for ourselves.

...

Being an ally does not mean speaking for us, making choices for us, or figuring out what’s best for us. It means supporting and defending the choices we make and the voices we use.

The whole post is really good. Check it out.

Art and text

This has been sitting in my email for awhile so in a fung-shui cleaning frenzy, I thought I'd pass it on so I can finally delete the email.

There's an artist, Lalla Essaydi, doing amazing work tying together gender, Islam and aesthetics in beautiful ways.

Converging Territories (2003-2004)

Arab-Esque (2006)

The first one is more indicative of her general style, but I'm really intrigued by the bottom picture. It's by far her most risque, but I like it anyway. Here's some more of her work from artnet.

Obama let me down this week

I've said before that I'm an Obama supporter, however, I'm a little displeased with him and his campaign this week/last week (I'm a bit behind).

First up, at an Obama rally in Detroit, two women in head scarves weren't allowed to sit directly behind Obama - more importantly, directly in line of television cameras. Two different campaign workers said it wasn't good for the current political climate and and the other said no one was allowed with hats, even though photos of the event prove otherwise.

One of the woman, Hebba Aref, said, "I was coming to support him, and I felt like I was discriminated against by the very person who was supposed to be bringing this change, who I could really relate to."

Obama later apologized to both women, but not before MN Rep. Keith Ellison told Obama that refusing to allow the women to sit in view of TV cameras was disappointing and the action didn't reflect the openness and inclusion his campaign promotes. Ellison is the first Muslim to be elected to US Congress (woot woot MN 5th district!). As much as Obama says he's not Muslim, there's a risidual feeling from all the denials that implies being Muslim is bad, when it's clearly not.

When Ellison confronted Obama about it, Obama listened and then called the women to apologize. Jeff Fecke at Shakesville explains why it's so important that Ellison brought up the issue with Obama, and also why it's so important that Obama listened to the criticism and did something about it.

So for me, while the situation is disappointing, it is refreshing to see constructive criticism offered and taken.

Next, (and there's no reedeming silver lining on this one), Obama has stated he supports the Foreign Intelligence Security Act that provides retroactive immunity for telecommunication companies who broke the law by wiretapping US citizens.

Seriously? I'm super disappointed about this and I'm writing letters to make sure Obama knows I'm pissed. What happened to "I am proud to stand with Senator Dodd, Senator Feingold and a grassroots movement of Americans who are refusing to let President Bush put protections for special interests ahead of our security and our liberty." Oh wait, that was the primaries.

Now, Obama said, "Given the legitimate threats we face, providing effective intelligence collection tools with appropriate safeguards is too important to delay. So I support the compromise, but do so with a firm pledge that as president, I will carefully monitor the program." I'm sorry, but after the past 7 years of empty promises to protect our rights and liberty, I'm a little wary of you "monitoring" it to make sure it's not infringing on citizen rights.

Write to Obama here and tell him that America contains Muslims and that we're not going to stand for retroactive immunity in FISA.

You can be funny AND Muslim

Muslimah Media Watch has an interview with two Muslimah stand-up comedians, Tissa Hami and Maysoon Zayid. It's a good interview and funny to boot.

An excerpt:

MMW: Is it your intent to “play ambassador” and represent Muslim women through your comedy? Do you seek to represent only your specific ethnic/nationality group or sect of Islam? Why or why not?

Maysoon: It is truly a dream of mine to do just that. I would love to have the opportunity to travel more widely and be a good will ambassador. I would love to be able to focus on the positive aspects of my faith, such as charity. I mean Maysoon’s Kids is such a huge part of my life, and the genesis of that charity was the concept of Zakat combined with inspiration from Oprah’s Christmas kindness program. That alone illustrates that I live with one foot in each world. That all being said, I’m an anarchist at heart; so I’d much rather be a goodwill ambassador for humanity at large, regardless of religion, ethnicity, or height. (I’ll probably just end up on General Hospital)

Tissa: I am a comedian. My intent is to be funny. I'm not out to represent anybody. The only person I represent is myself. If people can relate to what I say onstage – no matter their race, creed, or nationality – then that's great. If not, then that's okay too.

I've been surprised by the wide range of people who are able to relate to my jokes. When I first started out, I was afraid I might only appeal to other Iranian-Americans of my generation. What I've found is that many people relate to the 'fish out of water' story, so to speak. I had a white Christian woman from Texas tell me that she related to my joke about having people tell me to "go home", because when she first moved from Texas to the North, people would hear her accent and tell her to go back to where she came from. I had another woman who was the only Catholic in an all-Protestant town tell me that she related to my stories about being an outsider. So again, if people can relate to what I say, that's great.

They also have a post about Sabrina Jalees, another Muslim comic (hah, her website title is "Sabrina Jalees - if you don't like me, you're probably racist"). She often incorporates stereotypes about Muslim women into her act, which is both a positive and a negative. Duniya writes,

In fact, at times some of her jokes may further strengthen certain stereotypes. For instance, in joking about the Muslim arranged marriage process Sabrina wonders why the processes is appealing to men because they only see the picture of the potential mate - just the eyes. Additionally, when contrasting herself with the traditional Muslim woman she jokes about how she would never be asking to rub her husband's feet. Although jokes, these comments will further enhance the myth that most Muslim women wear the niqab and that Muslim women are subservient.

Overall, Jalees has toured with other Muslim comics and makes it loud and clear that Muslimahs can be just as funny as men, and Duniya makes the point that her jokes help create space for public discourse for Muslim women.

Personally, I think humor is one of the best way to break stereotypes and boundaries, and it looks like these three women are working hard to do just that. Plus they haven't sexually assaulted anyone on stage - good for them!

Muslimahs Speak Up! Carnival

There's a Muslimahs Speak Up! Carnival with lots of good links and lots of female Muslim voices.

Highlights:

From Muslimah Media Watch: Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Triple Threats and Double Trouble for Muslim Women

Izzy Mo: Muslim Women Writers Need Not Apply

Snowy Heights: Hijabibabe

Musings of a Mademoiselle: The Neuroses of a Confused Girlie

Just a bit from the Neuroses of a Confused Girlie (which I think is awwwwesome):

It’s harder as a Muslim when die-hard fanatics tell you that a woman being out and about in public is wrong. That shaking hands with the opposite sex is haram. That I should be at home bearing babies and coddling a husband. It’s harder as an Egyptian when people tell me not to pursue an MBA because I’ll intimidate any potential spouses. That speaking out against sexual harassment is somehow shameful. That my femininity is somehow compromised if I insist on talking books and politics. And my all time favorite: I should hurry up and get married before all the good guys are gone. 1,2,3.

But you know what? I’m still proud to be Muslim. Proud to be Egyptian. Proud to be a woman.

I’ll continue learning about my religion, and debating to my dying breath with those who try and convince me that my religion wants to treat me like a second class citizen. (Or other aspects of Islam that are misconstrued, but that’s another story).

I love the fact that my Egyptian family will always be there for me, My-Big-Fat-Greek Wedding-Style, and I’ll strive to balance between what I want and what they want.

And as a woman? Well, since I’m obviously never going to go for a man that is going to try and cut me down to size, it seems I’m sadly going to end up a sad old spinster with cats, ranting bitterly to my equally sad and pathetic friends. Sorry, Grandma!

Badass.


Props to Muslimah Media Watch for the link to the carnival.