C L O S E R

THE PETITION FOR WOMEN EQUAL RIGHTS IN IRAN – ØªØºÛŒÛŒØ± Ø¨Ø±Ø§ÛŒ Ø¨Ø±Ø§Ø¨Ø±ÛŒ

Posted on November 21st, 2006 by .
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues.

ØªØºÛŒÛŒØ± Ø¨Ø±Ø§ÛŒ Ø¨Ø±Ø§Ø¨Ø±ÛŒ
THE PETITION FOR WOMEN EQUAL RIGHTS IN IRAN

Thursday 12 October 2006
Iranian law considers women to be second class citizens and promotes discrimination against them. It is noteworthy that legal discrimination of this type is being enforced in a society where women comprise over 60% of those being admitted to university. It is generally believed that laws should promote social moderation by being one step ahead of cultural norms. But in Iran the law lags behind cultural norms and womenâ€™s social position and status

Iranian law considers women to be second class citizens and promotes discrimination against them. It is noteworthy that legal discrimination of this type is being enforced in a society where women comprise over 60% of those being admitted to university. It is generally believed that laws should promote social moderation by being one step ahead of cultural norms. But in Iran the law lags behind cultural norms and womenâ€™s social position and status.

According to Iranian penal codes, a girl at nine years of age is considered to be an adult. If she commits a crime which is punishable by execution, the courts can indeed sentence her to death. If a man and a woman become paralyzed as a result of an accident, the punitive damages provided to the woman according to law is half that of those provided to the man. If a man and a woman are both witness to a crime, the law does not recognize the woman as a witness, but the man can serve as a witness. The law allows fathers, who obtain the permission of the courts, to wed their daughters even before the age of 13 (legal age of marriage) to a 70 year old man. The law does not allow mothers to serve as the financial guardians of their children, or to make decisions regarding their childâ€™s place of residence, foreign travel, or medical care. The law allows men to take practice polygamy and gives them uncontested rights to divorce their wives at whim.

These are only a few examples of the inequities and discriminatory practices against women, which can be found in Iranian law. Without a doubt, women of lower socio-economic status or women from religious and ethic minority groups suffer disproportionately from legal discrimination. On the other hand, these unjust laws have promoted unhealthy and unbalanced relationships between men and women and as a result have had negative consequences on the lives of men as well. Specifically we can point to the high dowries, that many women demand as a condition of marriage, which in essence are reflective of the lack of a sense of security resulting from legal discrimination and their unequal status under the law.

On the other hand, the Iranian government is a signatory to several international human rights conventions, and accordingly is required to bring its legal code in line with international standards. The most important international human rights standard calls for elimination of discrimination based on gender, ethnicity, religion, etc.

The undersigned ask for the elimination of all forms of legal discrimination against women in Iranian law and ask legislators to review and reform existing laws based on the governmentâ€™s commitments to international human rights conventions.

De paradox van de islamisering van migranten

Posted on November 18th, 2006 by .
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Multiculti Issues, My Research, Some personal considerations, Young Muslims.

Maarten Huygen wijst op een interessant fenomeen met betrekking tot moslims in Nederland.

Helaas deelt Nederland naar CDAmodel de publieke ruimte in religies op. Voor Turkse en Marokkaanse Nederlanders die de samenleving nog niet kennen, komt dat neer op religieuze apartheid. Turkse en Marokkaanse Nederlanders worden alleen aangesproken als moslims maar velen praktiseren niet. Ook onder actieve moslims groeit de ergernis over de reductie van hun identiteit tot hun geloof. In Marokko of Turkije worden burgers niet aangesproken als gelovigen maar als onderdanen van de Turkse staat of de Marokkaanse koning. Zo niet hier. â€žIn Nederland worden wij niet gezien als gewone mensen maar als religieuze doelgroepâ€, aldus Can-Engin. â€žDe fundamentalisten beheersen dan het debat.â€

Het zou even absurd zijn, bedenk ik, als alle Europese immigranten in het religieuze Amerika als â€˜de atheÃ¯stenâ€™ zouden worden beschouwd en dat de regering naarstig op zoek ging naar â€˜gematigde leidersâ€™ van het Humanistisch Verbond, de Naturistenbond, de Internationale van Trotskisten en de wereldregering van Transcendente Meditatie die dan subsidie en een contactorgaan krijgen. Dan ga je ook â€˜atheÃ¯stische â€™ voorzieningen vragen. Op elke werkplek gratis naaktsaunaâ€™s.

Voor imams en religieuze gezagsdragers komt de nadruk op de moslimreligie goed uit. Can-Engin geeft een voorbeeld: â€žMijn werkkamer is wat klein. Als ik vraag om een gebedskamer in te richten, kan niemand mij belemmeren. Daar kan ik dan mensen ontvangen. Zo werken veel religieuze vertegenwoordigers. Ze speuren de wet af naar bepalingen waar ze gebruik van kunnen maken.
Dat kun je hen niet kwalijk nemen, want zo werkt het hier.â€

Hij heeft hier een interessant punt. Om een voorbeeld uit mijn eigen onderzoeken aan te halen. Aisha is een meisje van 16 jaar. Tot voor kort het enige meisje dat ik kende dat zich expliciet geen moslim noemde: zij was gothic. Mooi lang zwart haar, zware zwarte make up, gothic kleding enzovoorts. Zij vertelde mij dat ze gek werd van alle vragen die zij kreeg over moslims. Dat nam ik altijd met een korreltje zout totdat ik op een gegeven moment ergens zag dat een man die ik ook kende haar vraag: waarom draag jij geen hoofddoek, vindt de islam dat goed? Die man wist dat zij de islam voor zichzelf verlaten had. Maar schijnbaar toch niet voor hem.

Een dergelijk verschijnsel, met name bij beleidsmakers, is door Sunier ook wel de islamisering van migranten genoemd: (more…)

Qantara.de – Portrait Emel Abidin-Algan:Faith without the Headscarf

Posted on November 16th, 2006 by .
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues.

Qantara.de – Portrait Emel Abidin-Algan – Faith without the Headscarf
Portrait Emel Abidin-Algan
Faith without the Headscarf

Her decision caused quite a stir â€“ in Germany as well as in Turkey. Emel Abidin-Algan, daughter of the founder of the Islamic association Milli GÃ¶rÃ¼s, has put aside her headscarf after wearing it for over thirty years. The 45-year-old mother of six children spoke with Ariana Mirza about her motives

“We need fewer religious people and many more believers”, says Emel Abidin-Algan

“It is absurd to infer about someone’s beliefs on the basis of outward appearances!” said Emel Abidin-Algan, expressing her views in a ready to print form. She has experience in articulating her positions. A few years ago, the former chairwoman of an Islamic women’s association took part in Germany’s headscarf debate â€“ and offered some rather unconventional suggestions.

First, Emel Abidin-Algan and a group of Berlin women designers created fashionable hats as an alternative to the controversial headscarf. Then, in early 2005, she took off her own headscarf for good.

Since then, there have been many changes in the life of the mother of six. She dances with an Irish folklore group, practices martial arts in a mixed Aikido team, and goes to night school. Emel Abidin-Algan continues to take care of her three youngest children, who still live at home, together with her husband, although they have decided to separate. Her conservative husband refuses to accept his wife’s new attitudes.

The Revealer: There's Something About Muslims

Posted on November 14th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Multiculti Issues, Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

The Revealer: There’s Something About Muslims
There’s Something About Muslims
09 November 2006

Can multiculturalism prevail as long as women wear the veil? Is the assimilation travail to no avail? Did I mention the veil?

By Bridget Purcell

“There must be something about the Jews; they upset me physically.”

The Revealer: There’s Something About Muslims

Posted on November 14th, 2006 by .
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Multiculti Issues, Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

The Revealer: There’s Something About Muslims
There’s Something About Muslims
09 November 2006

Can multiculturalism prevail as long as women wear the veil? Is the assimilation travail to no avail? Did I mention the veil?

By Bridget Purcell

“There must be something about the Jews; they upset me physically.”

Protected: AT5 Nieuws Amsterdam – "Beter homo daar dan een Turk hier"

Posted on November 12th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues.

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Protected: AT5 Nieuws Amsterdam – “Beter homo daar dan een Turk hier”

Posted on November 12th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues.

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De burqa en de strijd om het lichaam van de vrouw

Posted on November 10th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues.

(Collectie IISG, Amsterdam): ‘Dolle Mina. Onthullend’. De poster is afkomstig van het IISG (www.iisg.nl)

(Tekst: “Nou, het is zo ver…. de minderheden zijn in de meerderheid”.Peter van Straaten, Peters Zeurkalender, 2 november 2006)

Het lijkt erop dat in extremis moslims en islam toch weer aanwezig zijn de verkiezingscampagne. (more…)

4 comments.

She had it coming…

Posted on November 4th, 2006 by .
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues.

A lot to do about Hilali’s comments on rape and women. His comparison with meat is ridiculous of course:

If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden or in the park, or in the backyard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it … whose fault is it, the cats or the uncovered meat? The uncovered meat is the problem […]

Since when is rape the fault of women. Yes of course you can say women should be careful and but of course you should say that men should keep their hands (and whatever else) to themselves. Something like Hilali’s comments are also made about veiled women but then the other way around by the distinguished French scholar Bernard-Henry LÃ©vi:

Our time is almost up, but BHL becomes the most animated I have seen him when I ask him about Jack Straw’s intervention on Muslim women and the veil. â€˜Jack Strawâ€™, he says, leaning close to me, â€˜made a great point. He did not say that he was against the veil. He said it is much easier, much more comfortable, respectful, to speak with a woman with a naked face. And without knowing, he quoted Levinas, who is the philosopher of the face. Levinas says that [having seen] the naked face of your interlocutor, you cannot kill him or her, you cannot rape him, you cannot violate him. So when the Muslims say that the veil is to protect women, it is the contrary. The veil is an invitation to rape […]

Female Circumcision

Posted on November 3rd, 2006 by .
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues.

On Fausta’s blog (via Myrtus) a report on an Ethiopian man who has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for mutilating his 2 yr old daughter with a pair of scissors. Interesting is that while laws exist against FGM, he was sentenced for aggravated battery and cruelty to children, not under anti-FGM laws since the crime took place prior to the enactment of the laws. (more…)

Protected: de Volkskrant – Binnenland – Waarom Soumaya S. scheidde van Nouredine el F.

Posted on November 2nd, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Murder on theo Van Gogh and related issues, Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

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Eurozine: Lila Abu-Lughod – The Muslim woman. The power of images and the danger of pity

Posted on November 1st, 2006 by .
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Multiculti Issues.

Lorenz has brought to my attention (via Disparate) an interesting article by Lila Abu-Lughod (The Muslim woman. power of images and the danger of pity) at Eurozine.com.

In the common Western imagination, the image of the veiled Muslim woman stands for oppression in the Muslim world. This makes it hard to think about the Muslim world without thinking about women, sets up an “us” and “them” relationship with Muslim women, and ignores the variety of ways of life practiced by women in different parts of the Muslim world. Anthropologist Lila Abu-Lughod emphasizes that veiling should not be confused with a lack of agency or even traditionalism. Western feminists who take it upon themselves to speak on behalf of oppressed Muslim women assume that individual desire and social convention are inherently at odds: something not borne out by the experience of Islamic society.

Call for the abandoning of the headscarf in Germany

Posted on October 31st, 2006 by .
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Young Muslims.

Call for the abandoning of the headscarf Druckseite
Call for the abandoning of the headscarf

A number of German-Turks have called on Muslim women to forego wearing the headscarf

After the Islam conference in Germany a number of prominent German-Turks have called on Muslim women in Germany who wear headscarves to rethink their position. According to one, Lale AkgÃ¼n, “The headscarf is not obligatory, according to modern Islamic theology”

A number of German-Turkish politicians have called on Muslim women to do without the headscarf in Germany as a symbol of their willingness to integrate.

“The headscarf is a symbol of the oppression of women. Whoever requires of women that they cover their head and hair makes them into sexual objects “, said Ekin DeligÃ¶z, a Green Party Bundestag MP to a Sunday newspaper.

Frontaal Naakt. Ongesluierde opinies, interviews & achtergronden

Frontaal Naakt – Nahed Selim, HarriÃ«t Freezer en een islamitische scheurkalender

Posted on October 29th, 2006 by .
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Multiculti Issues.

Publiciste Nahed Selim krijgt de HarriÃ«t Freezer-ring, de jaarlijkse emancipatieprijs van het maandblad OpZij. Behalve op Frontaal Naakt heb ik daar nog maar weinig over gelezen noch over haar islamitische scheurkalender die binnenkort verschijnt. Op Frontaal Naakt een alleraardigst interview met haar.

Op 8 maart vraag je je af waarom God mannen boven vrouwen bevoordeelt.

Dat is natuurlijk een retorische vraag. Ik wil mensen daarmee aanzetten om de positie van vrouwen kritisch te bekijken. Zelf ben ik er natuurlijk wel uit.

Ja? Want je gelooft wel in God, toch? Je bent moslim.

Ja, maar ik zie God niet als een persoon, meer als een kracht. God is wat in de harten van mensen zit. Het geweten van de mensen, dat is God.

Dat klinkt als een protestantse manier van geloven.

Dat is goed mogelijk. Ik denk ook dat het idee achter alle geloven hetzelfde is.

Op 21 juni schrijf je: â€˜Uit recente onderzoeken blijkt dat meer dan de helft van de Marokkaanse jongeren de westerse beschaving afwijst. Dit geldt waarschijnlijk ook voor andere moslims. Hoe kan het ook anders met zulke Koranteksten?â€™ Zijn er eigenlijk koranteksten die je wÃ©l positief vindt, die je inspireren?

Ja, die zijn er zeker, en die zijn ook opgenomen in de kalender. Maar numeriek zijn de onverdraagzame teksten in de meerderheid.

Darfur!

Posted on October 24th, 2006 by .
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Misc. News.

Ja, juist ja, Darfur met een uitroepteken. Jan Pronk heeft nogal wat teweeg gebracht met zijn recente uitspraken. Het mooie gevolg zou zijn dat Darfur toch maar eens wat meer in de belangstelling komt te staan, maar de publiciteit gaat toch vooral over Jan Pronk zelf. Voor wie echt wat meer wil weten, verwijs ik bij deze even naar Gin van weblog The Vault. Haar stuk over Darfur staat ook op Sargasso:

Mocht u het willen weten, Darfur ligt in Oost-Afrika. Er is oorlog. Al vanaf 2003. Er zijn honderdduizenden mensen op de vlucht geslagen. Er zijn tot nu toe ongeveer 350.000 doden gevallen. Naar schatting uiteraard, want wie weet dat soort dingen nou precies? Of liever gezegd, wie wil dat soort dingen nou weten? Net zoals niemand wil weten waar het conflict nou eigenlijk Ã©cht over gaat. De media houden hardnekkig vast aan het verhaaltje dat Arabische milities de niet-Arabische bevolking wegjaagt. En dat is wel heel simpel gesteld. Want Arabische en Afrikaanse Darfurianen verschillen, anders dan in taalkundig opzicht, nauwelijks van elkaar: allen zijn moslim, zwart van huidskleur en negroÃ¯de. De culturele, raciale en religieuze identiteiten die nu een belangrijke rol spelen in het conflict zijn allerminst voor de hand liggend maar kennen hun oorsprong in de raciale staat. En daar ligt de sleutel tot de oplossing. Als eenmaal erkend wordt dat de Arabische racistische ideologie van de Sudanese overheid de reden en motor achter het conflict is, dan kan als tweede stap misschien het woord genocide geherintroduceerd worden.

Op Sargasso vindt u ook een link naar een paper met meer achtergrondinformatie over het conflict. Interessant is ook het artikel van Karin Willemse in ISIM Review 15. In ‘Darfur in War: The Politicization of Ethnic Identities’ (PDF) besteedt zij niet alleen aandacht aan het proces waardoor de strijd in Darfur etnisch gelabeld wordt, maar ook aan de positie van vrouwen daarbij. Het woord genocide kan daar in Ã©Ã©n adem genoemd worden met gendercide: met name vrouwen worden systematisch aangevallen, verkracht, mishandeld, enzovoorts.

Protected: Trouw, deVerdieping| dossiers – Ã–zdemir / Het is nuttiger om te zeggen: Laten we samen kijken hoe de islam vrouwvriendelijker kan

Posted on October 24th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Internal Debates, Multiculti Issues.

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Protected: Trouw, deVerdieping| dossiers – Ã–zdemir / Het is nuttiger om te zeggen: Laten we samen kijken hoe de islam vrouwvriendelijker kan

Posted on October 24th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Internal Debates, Multiculti Issues.

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Jamestown.org – Jihadis Provide Internet Training for Female Mujahideen

Posted on October 22nd, 2006 by .
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

Jihadis Provide Internet Training for Female Mujahideen
Jihadis Provide Internet Training for Female Mujahideen

By Abdul Hameed Bakier
The use of female suicide bombers by Islamist militant groups in countries such as Iraq, Jordan, Afghanistan and Indian Kashmir has exceeded the traditional constraints that Salafi-Jihadi ideology imposes on women. Observers of jihadi cyber activities have noticed an increase in the number of websites dedicated to mujahidat (female mujahideen), linked either directly or ideologically to al-Qaeda. The physical and spiritual preparation of the mujahidat has recently spread to many jihadi websites. (more…)

Hirsi Ali on owls and ostrichs

Posted on October 21st, 2006 by .
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Multiculti Issues.

In the German daily Die Welt an essay (in German) by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. In this essay she states that if we want integration to succeed, we must be tough on immigration. A false tolerance (as practiced by the ostrichs) that tolerates the repressive side of Islam should not be allowed. She thinks it ostrich politics towards the so-called ‘prada-islam’ (girls who were very hip clothes combined with fashionable headscarves) is misleading. The problems with Muslims nowadays are not just temporarily and do not go away with time. This ostrichs should listen more to the owls who recognize that not all Muslims will take part in an European future based upon European values (freedom and tolerance). These owls cannot and do not ignore the totalitarian consequences of the Islamist movement. The owls fear that the false tolerance will lead to a clash between the extreme right movement and the islamist movement. She states that allowing more and more immigrants from Islamic countries is detrimental for those people that both the owls and the ostrichs want to protect: women and children.

Since most people will agree that women’s rights should be protected, her plea sounds good and in my opinion she certainly has some relevant points but in the end her plea might be counterproductive for the women she want’s to protect.

6 comments.

Saudis. Don't mention the war

Posted on October 19th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues.

One of the best shows ever is Fawlty Towers’ The Germans. In that episode Basil Fawlty goes at great lenght to avoid the topic of the second world war while he has german guests in his hotel:

Basil Fawlty says to Polly in conspiritorial toens “Don’t mention the war. I did it once but I think I got away with it” (which he delivers to his off-screen wife Connie Booth who plays the chambermaid who in effect runs the hotel)

He returns to the dining room and the older German says “Please stop mentioning the war, you’re upsetting the girl” (who is in tears)

Fawlty says “You started it” and then the rebuff “No we didn’t” from the German triggers the line

wait for it

“Yes you did – you invaded Poland” (cheers and applause!!!!)

I had to think about that scene while reading Gender Relations, Sex and Perversion: The Dark Underside of Saudi Arabia at SAFspace with an interesting account of her stay in Saudi Arabia:

One of the puzzles that arise out of the Muslimâ€™s obsession with modesty is that in a rather subverse manner it breeds an over-sexualized, perverse society. Women wear the veil and stick close to home, and yet Saudi society places the imperative on women to observe modesty, to keep themselves in check so that men donâ€™t have to do so. Well, how far will we go? There are parts of Medina where young men with gelled hair and tight shirts stand about idly and whistle at any black veil that walks by. Sadly, the only body parts visible are the eyes. So what must we do? Hide ourselves away from sight lest the men, God forbid, find themselves unable to control their insatiable urges?

This strange contradiction, a society that has become oversexualised by banning all kinds of possible references to sex (with the burden on the shoulders of women), brings disgust and fascination: (more…)

Saudis. Don’t mention the war

Posted on October 19th, 2006 by .
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues.

One of the best shows ever is Fawlty Towers’ The Germans. In that episode Basil Fawlty goes at great lenght to avoid the topic of the second world war while he has german guests in his hotel:

Basil Fawlty says to Polly in conspiritorial toens “Don’t mention the war. I did it once but I think I got away with it” (which he delivers to his off-screen wife Connie Booth who plays the chambermaid who in effect runs the hotel)

He returns to the dining room and the older German says “Please stop mentioning the war, you’re upsetting the girl” (who is in tears)

Fawlty says “You started it” and then the rebuff “No we didn’t” from the German triggers the line

wait for it

“Yes you did – you invaded Poland” (cheers and applause!!!!)

I had to think about that scene while reading Gender Relations, Sex and Perversion: The Dark Underside of Saudi Arabia at SAFspace with an interesting account of her stay in Saudi Arabia:

One of the puzzles that arise out of the Muslimâ€™s obsession with modesty is that in a rather subverse manner it breeds an over-sexualized, perverse society. Women wear the veil and stick close to home, and yet Saudi society places the imperative on women to observe modesty, to keep themselves in check so that men donâ€™t have to do so. Well, how far will we go? There are parts of Medina where young men with gelled hair and tight shirts stand about idly and whistle at any black veil that walks by. Sadly, the only body parts visible are the eyes. So what must we do? Hide ourselves away from sight lest the men, God forbid, find themselves unable to control their insatiable urges?

This strange contradiction, a society that has become oversexualised by banning all kinds of possible references to sex (with the burden on the shoulders of women), brings disgust and fascination: (more…)

Sex, macht en moraal

Posted on October 6th, 2006 by .
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues.

Vanavond komt de film ‘Intimacy’ op televisie, gebaseerd op een verhaal van Hanif Kureishi. In dit verhaal is de hoofdpersoon ontrouw aan zijn vrouw en er allerlei relaties op na houdt die maar Ã©Ã©n ding gebaseerd zijn: lichamelijkheid. In het verhaal komt de volgende zinsnede voor:

I think I have become the adults in The Catcher in the Rye

Een nogal pijnlijk moment voor de man in kwestie die zich realiseert dat zijn adolescentie al lang voorbij is en plaats heeft gemaakt voor een ‘midlife crisis’. De verontrusting die veel mensen hadden door de wijze waarop The Catcher in the Rye adolescentie uitriep tot een cult op zich waarbij seksualiteit een belangrijke rol speelt, lijkt hedentendage teruggekeert te zijn. Het gaat dan voornamelijk om de verontrusting over de vrije seksuele moraal. (more…)

2 comments.

Guardian Unlimited Books | By genre | Islam and the porno devils

Posted on July 23rd, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Young Muslims, Youth culture (as a practice).

Guardian Unlimited Books | By genre | Islam and the porno devils
Review in the Guardian about Muhajababes: Islam and the porno devils

Can the clash between scantily clad secularism and conservative religious ideology produce a third way in the Arab world? Some wish according to Allegra Stratton’s fascinating exploration of this question, Muhajababes, writes Rachel Aspden.

As a guide to the preoccupations of young Arabs, the Middle-Eastern chaos currently splashed across the front pages is only part of the story. Vying with bearded Hizbollah commanders for the hearts and minds (or at least cash and attention) of Middle-Eastern youth is a well-funded and altogether better-looking army: a gang of half-naked girls. Stars of the omnipresent Arabic music videos (‘video-clips’), the girls – led by Maria, Elissa, Ruby, Nancy Ajram and Haifa Wehbe – are the region’s super-groomed, cosmetically enhanced sweethearts – or its ‘porno clip devils’, according to one Egyptian newspaper. Their grip on ‘the morals of Arab youth’ is so strong that in 2004 conservative Egyptian MPs called for a ban on the clips – supported by letters and petitions from young Egyptians.

But how do the region’s armies of under-30 video-lovers and haters square up? In early 2005 Allegra Stratton, a young BBC producer, set off on a tour of Beirut, Amman, Cairo, Dubai, Kuwait City and Damascus with the aim of finding out.

Stratton is in search of a cultural revolution – experts on the Middle East have told her that a massive rise in the number of educated young people coupled with a stunted job market have led to a situation that parallels the English Civil War, the French Revolution and 1968. So, at first, she goes looking for a Haight-Ashbury-type counterculture, hanging out with TV producers, struggling artists, MCs and curators.

Her findings are less romantic than she had hoped (more…)

Guardian Unlimited Books | By genre | Islam and the porno devils

Posted on July 23rd, 2006 by .
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Young Muslims, Youth culture (as a practice).

Guardian Unlimited Books | By genre | Islam and the porno devils
Review in the Guardian about Muhajababes: Islam and the porno devils

Can the clash between scantily clad secularism and conservative religious ideology produce a third way in the Arab world? Some wish according to Allegra Stratton’s fascinating exploration of this question, Muhajababes, writes Rachel Aspden.

As a guide to the preoccupations of young Arabs, the Middle-Eastern chaos currently splashed across the front pages is only part of the story. Vying with bearded Hizbollah commanders for the hearts and minds (or at least cash and attention) of Middle-Eastern youth is a well-funded and altogether better-looking army: a gang of half-naked girls. Stars of the omnipresent Arabic music videos (‘video-clips’), the girls – led by Maria, Elissa, Ruby, Nancy Ajram and Haifa Wehbe – are the region’s super-groomed, cosmetically enhanced sweethearts – or its ‘porno clip devils’, according to one Egyptian newspaper. Their grip on ‘the morals of Arab youth’ is so strong that in 2004 conservative Egyptian MPs called for a ban on the clips – supported by letters and petitions from young Egyptians.

But how do the region’s armies of under-30 video-lovers and haters square up? In early 2005 Allegra Stratton, a young BBC producer, set off on a tour of Beirut, Amman, Cairo, Dubai, Kuwait City and Damascus with the aim of finding out.

Stratton is in search of a cultural revolution – experts on the Middle East have told her that a massive rise in the number of educated young people coupled with a stunted job market have led to a situation that parallels the English Civil War, the French Revolution and 1968. So, at first, she goes looking for a Haight-Ashbury-type counterculture, hanging out with TV producers, struggling artists, MCs and curators.

Her findings are less romantic than she had hoped (more…)