Handsome Her

This Melbourne-based café’s name is not the only interesting thing about it. It is currently making efforts to raise awareness about the increasing  gender pay gap in the country; and it has been in the news lately for all the right reasons.

read more

It is rarely a good idea to pay too much attention to talk shows and their hosts. But once upon a time I thought differently and so they received much undeserved attention from me.

read more

This is not about me or Sara Ahmed or Audre Lorde. It is not the story of one woman, or two or three. It is about feminism. And there you go! I just lost a bunch of readers to that word.

read more

When I first moved to Australia, almost three years ago, I had a completely different notion of women’s freedom, rights awareness, status at work and at home, and why not? It was the first time I was living permanently in a first-world country, moreover in the country with the highest human index for years in a row. I had to have expectations of a freer world for women.

read more

“This group should be banned! These idiot mullahs!” He remarked in a disgruntled tone, as he scrolled through the television channels, with a beer can in one hand and a TV remote control in another. She confidently nodded in agreement. I remained silent, but they heard me breathe a heavy sigh. I was the guest, he and his wife the hosts. In such awkward situations, I keep my opinions to myself. I prefer not to ruin the environment. Before the silence could suffocate us, she got up to pour me another cup of green tea. I noticed she was still slightly limping, her knee still badly sore from the gold plated Italian vase thrown at her eight days ago.

read more

The mullah culture is a constant threat to new and secular feminism in Pakistan, writes feminist writer Ayesha Hasan.

read more

There’s something we missed in recent media coverage of the two Pakistani stories, writes feminist writer, academic Ayesha Hasan.  

read more