Gender in Crisis

Ines Braune is an assistant professor at the Center for Near and Middle Eastern Studies (CNMS) at Philipps-University Marburg. She holds a PhD in Arabic Studies from Leipzig University and has a background in media studies. Her current research is on Parkour as a mediatized cultural practice in the Arab world. Her research interests include cultural studies, media, youth and inequalities in the Arab world. She is coeditor of the open access journal Middle East Topics and Arguments (META).</p

Touching Language!

This paper argues for using academic Arabic more actively in Arabic Studies in Germany. Based on an ongoing discussion at the Centre for Near and Middle Eastern Studies at the Philipps-Universität Marburg about the pros and cons of dealing more closely with academic knowledge production from the MENA region, this paper sheds light on the potentials of academic Arabic for non-native students and scholars. In the framework of postcolonial studies, it discusses linguistic, epistemic and ethic benefits of using academic Arabic in teaching and researching more actively and maps recent German initiatives to foster academic Arabic. As a conclusion, it calls for a close affective contact with Arabic: Daring to touch language and getting touched by language

Discussion of Iran Awakening by Shirin Ebadi

In preparation for our book discussion on Iran Awakening by Shirin Ebadi for our Iran: Beyond the Headlines series, we created some of our own discussion questions about the book. Please feel free to use for your own book discussion

Fealess Friday: Kelsey Chapman

Kelsey Chapman ’15 fearlessly advocates for human rights, peace, and justice, focusing on the Middle East. An economics major and Middle East and Islamic Studies (MEIS) minor, Kelsey is the house leader for the MEIS House, an Arabic PLA, and the founder of Gettysburg’s chapter of J Street U. [excerpt

Stoning in Iran: A Sexist and Overlooked Practice

This paper seeks to dissect and expose the ancient practice of stoning in Iran, and to analyze the injustices that are built into this punishment

The Pedophile Prophet? Breathing a Culturally Relative Point of View into a Controversial Cultural Debate

This work focuses on a controversial topic within women studies of the Islamic world, the very young marriage of Mohammad\u27s second wife Aisha. The work attempts to meet the issue on level ground and explain that while this may seem as a spark on conflict between non-Muslim cultures and the Islamic world this marriage was not altogether that uncommon for the time

The Mainstream Misrepresentation of Muslim Women in the Media

I discuss the widespread misrepresentation of Islamic women in multiple sources of media and its subsequent effects on the general population\u27s perception of this demographic as a whole

To Veil or Not to Veil: A Loaded Question

What all Americans should know about women in the Muslim world is that Muslim women are increasingly prohibited through legal measures to choose for themselves whether or not to veil, which reduces their agency and perpetuates the harmful idea that all Muslim women need saving.This paper takes a look at political and legislative interventions on veiling in several countries

The Motivations Behind Westerners’ Obsession with the Islamic Veil

In a world where we are constantly bombarded with countless images of Islamic terrorism, violence, and danger, it is not surprising that we have come to associate all aspects of Islamic society with malevolence. This destructive way of thinking has impacted the way we—as Westerners— think about, portray, and perceive Muslim men and women. While Muslim men are often depicted as hostile, cruel, and savage-like, on the other hand, Muslim women are usually depicted as powerless, obedient, and docile. These stereotypical representations of Muslim men and women have harmful consequences—consequences that not only promote Western ignorance, but also tarnish the mindsets of individuals, encouraging a shallow, one-dimensional view of Muslim women as oppressed. Consequently, every aspect of Muslim women’s lives, including what they wear, has been analyzed and manipulated by Westerners in order to serve as evidence to explain Muslim women’s oppression. For this reason, according to Westerners, Muslim women wearing the hijab (veil covering the head) have become a symbol of Muslim women’s oppression, ultimately preventing Muslim women from escaping their religion. As a result, Western media has tended to focus on the veil, often linking it with Muslim women’s oppression. Interestingly, however, Westerners’ obsession with the veil has not been a recent occurrence. In fact, Westerners’ infatuation with the veil and rendering of it as a tool of Muslim women’s oppression arose during the colonial period and was used as part of colonial discourse in order to serve the purposes and goals of Westerners—the goal of taking over the lands of the Muslim world to impose their own culture and values. For these very same reasons, the West is currently still using the veil for neocolonial purposes; however, recently, there have been attempts by Muslim women to reappropriate the meaning of the hijab in order to challenge Western stereotypes and misconstruals of the symbol of the veil. [excerpt