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Honey, I Shrunk My Self-Esteem

Growing up, my complexion was never light enough, my hair was never straight enough, my B.O. was never fresh enough, and my name was never pronounced easily enough. I was the only lanky, brown girl, placed in the midst of people I couldn’t identify with. Some people referred to me as just “that Indian girl”…

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Western Feminism and Free Will

It is true that there is a line between oppression and free-will. It is also true that that line is not a fine one. These thoughts swarmed my mind when I took a Women, Culture, and Society class two semesters ago. I found that the course, while easy, brought insight to a lot of issues….

Lifestyle

Girl, You Need to Start Workin’ Out… Yo’ Persistence Muscle

“I’m going to become successful.” “I’m going to become the best Muslim ever.” “I’m going to lose weight.” These are statements that I was a little too familiar with. Oftentimes I would make goals, and fail to follow through — too often, in my opinion. Recently, however, I made a discovery that changed my life…

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Badass Muslim Girl

Three years ago, I stood in my backyard clad in a black Abaya, black trench coat, and black Hijab with a pair of aviators while my friend took a few shots with my camera, which would eventually give birth to the Badass Muslim Girl™ meme. I posted the picture of myself on my Facebook. Soon,…

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Who Defines Liberation?

Liberation has always been a hot topic. Liberation isn’t an ideal, but a journey; it means to break the inevitable chains of societal norms and to rise above whatever causes one pain or hardship. For Muslim women living in Western society, it is particularly hard to decide where to turn when the question of liberation…

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Have You Faced Racism & Islamophobia?

Journalist Ahmed Eldin from Huffington Post Live will be having a discussion on Monday, July 23 on this topic. Let’s get as many participants as possible so we can share our story. You can join in the discussion by either making a video comment, emailing Ahmed (check out his twitter here), or even joining their…

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Muslims: A Matter of Perception

I just finished reading a string of comments claiming one after another how the “majority ‘Moderate Muslim’ population” is not doing anything to denounce the radical Muslims which means that they are, in actuality, in agreement with their actions.  It all stemmed from a rather pleasant read from the CNN article which was stating that…

Lifestyle

A Child’s Innocence

This topic came to my mind when I was out with my 8 year-old sister. We had decided to go to the beach one evening just to spend time together. It’s amazing how little kids’ minds seem to work and how easily influenced they become by their surroundings. I was curious to know a few…