So, the internet exploded recently with debate about a certain video – the ‘Mipsterz’ video. ‘Mipsterz’, or ‘Muslim Hipsters’ are a group/collective of American Muslims who also identify as hipsters. The video features a group of Muslim women wearing their hijabs in unconventional ways and styled in the cutting edge of fashion, dancing, skateboarding, fencing…
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(Image: Hojusaram) This post was sponsored by eHarmony.com.au. If you have a question about sponsored posts, please contact Zoya at [email protected] It’s coming up to the two-year mark for my relationship with my boyfriend. Two years feels both very long, and very short. On one hand, I feel like we’ve been together forever and can’t…
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Featured on Daily Life this week was an in-depth profile of our new deputy Opposition leader, Tanya Plibersek. Focussing on Plibersek’s family, home, and love of cooking (with handy captions of where her clothes were from at the end), the piece read like something out of a feminist-nightmare – once again reinforcing the idea that…
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This post was first published on Zoya’s blog, The Coconut Chronicles, where she muses on the difficulties of toeing the line between two cultures as an Indian-Australian. I’ll just put it out there – I’ve never been a big makeup fan. Not just for feminist reasons (and even then, my biggest issue is with hair…
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Now, I’ll be honest. I was always a FEMEN-naysayer. I found their protest methods bizarre from the beginning, and couldn’t shake the feeling that just ‘raising awareness’ of issues through the use of bare breasts and sensationalist news stories isn’t entirely effective when it comes to the broader feminist movement. I have had many an…
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Image via Winter Pearl on Flickr This post was sponsored by eHarmony.com.au. If you have a question about sponsored posts, please contact Zoya at [email protected] Last year, I spent six months living in one city, while my boyfriend lived in another. We were separated by 659km, very different working hours and the kind of…
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In case we weren’t convinced yet that she’s the queen of controversy, a recently leaked song from Lady Gaga’s forthcoming album, ARTPOP, has the pop singer regaling us with half-formed, ignorant lyrics about the burqa. The song, either entitled ‘Aura’, or ‘Burqa’, includes the lyrics ‘I’m not a wandering slave I am a woman of…
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So, once again, Tony Abbott said something inappropriate in the media. This time, it was referring to Liberal candidate for the seat of Lindsay, Fiona Scott’s ‘sex appeal’, while singing her praises to the media. Naturally, the media had a field day with the comment, which didn’t do Tony any favours considering his already low…
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A new law has been introduced into Western Australia’s state parliament that would require Muslim women to remove their burqas or niqabs to prove their identity, if required. It would also apply to hats, scarves and other headwear or clothing that obstructs the ability to identify an individual. The law was drafted in response to…
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This post was sponsored by eHarmony.com.au. If you have a question about sponsored posts, please contact Zoya at [email protected] **This article is written with an assumption of heteronormativity, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t keen on hearing about other sexualities also!** You know the rules – when it comes to dating, men do the asking,…
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When I first hear about the Gulabi Gang in India, my initial feeling was exultation. Being from an Indian background myself, I’m used to the inherent and pervasive issues of sexism and misogyny that seep through almost every aspect of Indian culture. I had never before seen Indian women taking action against sexism though –…
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What is it with people getting all het up about women breastfeeding in public? Seriously – what is it about the sight of a small portion of breast, mostly covered by the head of a child, that stirs the masses into a morally outraged frenzy? This Monday saw a protest of hundreds of mothers outside…
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A San Diego teacher has been fired after a domestic dispute involving her ex-husband occurred at the school she was employed at. Carie Charlesworth, formerly a primary school teacher, was fired for being a ‘liability’ to the safety of students and fellow staff at Holy Trinity School in El Cajon. Charlesworth’s ex-husband has a history…
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When you write about controversial topics, you soon become used to being vilified for your opinions. As a feminist writer and editor, I have become used to being labeled a ‘man-hater’ or a harpie, being accused of low intelligence or of blatant lies, and generally being maligned and ridiculed by anti-feminists across the internet (and…
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