‘Can You Really Be a Queer Muslim?’: Intersectionality and the Complexity of Identity
‘Can You Really Be a Queer Muslim?’: Intersectionality and the Complexity of Identity
In a video I recently watched, a Muslim woman asked a Muslim gay man why he doesn’t stop being Muslim. That question made me cry. Not because I found it hurtful that the Muslim community (my community) is often still not accepting of queerness (also my community), or that I found the question ludicrous or ignorant. I cried because it made sense to me, and I didn’t want it to…
‘We Are Not Your Stereotypes’: Refusing Cultural Shame and Reclaiming My Narrative as a Balkan Woman
‘Balkan is the bridge where the wind blows’ is a phrase famously articulated by Marina Abramovic, a renowned ex-Yugoslavian performance artist now residing in NYC. This quote transcends mere words; it embodies a universal truth, particularly for women hailing from marginalised corners of Europe. As a woman from the Balkans, I grapple with conflicting emotions regarding my cultural identity…
Being a Working-Class Woman at Oxford University and Why It Does Matter Where You Come From
Competition is high, and the work culture is unhealthy. All of that is difficult to deal with, but all of it is reasonably expected. The issue at hand is that, on top of the academic adjustment that all students have to undergo, working-class students, specifically working-class women, have to undergo an entire additional social and cultural scathing…
Calling All My Lipstick Lovers: Janelle Monae’s Sexy New Song is a Black Queer Bop
I have listened to Lipstick Lover by Janelle Monae over 100 times. If you didn’t know, I am a massive lipstick lover (in all ways), so you can trust me when I say that Janelle Monae’s latest song is the sexy summer anthem for femme queers everywhere – especially Black femme queers. If you haven’t heard it yet and watched the music video, I suggest you change that…
‘Childless, Socially Inept and Hopeless in Relationships’: Who The Messy Woman Is and Why She Isn’t Our Favourite Feminist
I question how and why this narrative of self-destruction, avoidant emotion and boundary-less sex became the romanticised, singular experience for modern women, and why they are only presented as heterosexual and white. How can these narratives encapsulate an entire women’s experience and be titled ‘feminist’ when they are far removed from intersectional storylines?
‘I’ve Always Loved Period Pieces, but Never Felt I Had a Place in Them’: How Queen Charlotte’s Bridgerton Spin-Off Has Broken Down Barriers for Black Viewers
Everything it offered and all of the unsaid promises meant a great deal to me, and I am glad to say that it did not disappoint. In fact, I have a flatmate who has already begun rewatching it! I am sure you will love the series; and after reading this, hopefully you will have a better understanding of the barriers that are being torn down, the narratives that are changing, and why the show means so much to black women globally…
Everyone Deserves Representation: Why Mitski is a Guiding Light for Culturally Confused Diasporic Asian Women
I’ll admit it: as an Asian-American woman, I do fully gatekeep Mitski’s music – but not without good reason. While I could list the names of popular white female artists forever, I can barely count on ten fingers the number of female Asian-American pop artists whose music I can hear my own experiences through…