A Woman’s Place: Saudi Princes in Row Over Kingdom’s Image

Posted on January 23, 2012 | 4 Comments

Princess Ameera Al-Taweel's Speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative. The Princess' High Media Profile is Leading to Rifts in the Royal Family. Image Credit: Flickr

Saudi women have taken the wheels in recent months literally by defying the country’s notorious driving ban, and figuratively in attempting to advance their rights in the wake of the Arab Spring in the famously “conservative” Kingdom which allows women virtually no rights without male guardianship or representation.

In addition to the battles Saudi women have been waging on the ground and behind the scenes for their rights, or lack there of, they have had a champion in Princess Ameera Al-Taweel, the wife of Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, one of the more progressive of the thousands of Princes of the Saud family, and one of richest men in the world.

The Princess Frequently Travels With her Husband on Official Trips, Serving as his Vice-Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees and Head of the Executive Committee of the Al-Waleed bin Talal Foundations. Image Credit: Flickr

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An Education: What a Good Teacher Really Means

Posted on January 23, 2012 | 2 Comments

The Queen & I: Rania Told Me She Has Always Wanted to Visit Bangladesh.

Last week I had the tremendous honor of attending an event with Her Majesty, Queen Rania of Jordan. She was in Washington to promote a great initiative for girls education called “10×10.”

The fact that around the world millions of girls are still denied an education, unable to go to school for reasons ranging from having to walk thousands of miles to fetch water for their families to lack of security to their menstrual periods is one of the most frustrating aspects of working in the field of women’s rights.

If girls are still unable to access education, what does that imply for the future of the global feminist movement, not to mention the economic development of countries?

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Reclaiming the Revolution: Women in Cairo Refuse to be Sidelined

Posted on December 20, 2011 | 1 Comment

Women Are Shaping Revolutions and Refusing to be Sidelined. Image Credit: Time Magazine

A predawn raid today increased clashes between the military and civilian populations in Egypt, triggering women in Cairo to mobilize around the ongoing violence which in recent days has targeted women.

This week horrifying images of just how brutal the military can be towards women went viral. The video showing military police dragging a woman wearing a hijab through the street, beating her senseless, then stomping on her stomach, her bright blue bra exposed as she lay motionless on the street defines the struggle of the Egyptian people. Protesters held up signs with her images, chanting warnings such as, “This is the army that is protecting us!”

CNN reports that several hundred women kicked off a “Million Woman” march to expose the military’s sexual violence against female demonstrators. Protesters held up pictures of women, elderly people and teenagers who had been beaten up by the police, demanding a regime change.  Many men even formed a protective circle around female marchers so they would not be assaulted.

There is a reason why Time Magazine picked the protester as its Person of the Year. There is a reason why the image of the protester on its cover is that of a woman. Since the Arab Spring, it has been women, from Iran to Saudi Arabia to Egypt, who have not only been on the front-lines of the protests, demanding more rights, but also shaping their country’s revolutions.

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Anushay’s Point Featured in Masala Mommas!

Posted on November 30, 2011 | Leave a comment

My First Interview as a New Mom for the South Asian-Canadian Mom Site.

I was interviewed by the wonderful site for South Asian-Canadian moms, Masala Mommas. It was my first interview as a new mom and I could not have been more excited to share and reflect on what I have learned as a proud new mom to my baby girl, Ava Aisha Pahlevani.

Before I got pregnant, I spent a lot of time speaking to and writing about motherhood and new moms. I interviewed my friends who were moms on how they juggle all their different roles.

Being honest and trying to gage a realistic expectation of motherhood helped prepare me for what was to come a lot. But what I found once I became a new mom was that physically it was impossible to be the woman society expects you to be when you have a baby. My conclusion? Complain more and ask for help!

Check out my interview for Masala Mommas and tell me, what do you think is the hardest part of being a working mom?

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The Secret Lives of Wives & Mothers: Why Women Need to Complain More

Posted on November 17, 2011 | 7 Comments

When it Comes to Marriage and Motherhood, Women Need to Complain More. Image Credit: Anne Taintor.

I can’t tell you how much I relied on my girlfriends for my sanity in my twenties. During our student days at the University of Virginia (UVA), we were each other’s roommates, psychiatrists, parents, and siblings. We stayed up late talking about the men in our lives, mulling over what feminism meant to us, and struggling with term paper deadlines. Far away from my family in Bangladesh, my friends and I became each other’s families.

But something happens to our female friendships when we leave our twenties and enter our thirties. As we get older and get married, have babies, work more, work more, and did I mention, work more, we also begin to talk less. Why is it when women need their girlfriends most, they stop reaching out to them? Why is it that when we stop being single and become wives and mothers, we stop talking about those relationships, especially when they are not going the way we want them to?

The whole idea for this post came about from a conversation I had with a dear friend of mine this morning in London. She called to tell me about a mutual friend of ours, how her husband is struggling with depression, and they can’t get pregnant.

Why Do Women Start Talking Less When We Become Wives & Mothers? Image Credit: Anne Taintor.

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Seven Billion People & Women’s Rights: What is the Connection?

Posted on October 28, 2011 | Leave a comment

Women's Rights Remain at the Core of Solving the Population Crisis. Image Credit: Randy Olson.

At the end of October, the UN has projected that the world’s population will reach 7 billion, a scary milestone amidst increasing global political and economic instability. More people will only place increased pressure on our environment, on the world’s habitats, forests, and resources such as water. But how does investing in women’s rights tie into slowing the world’s population growth?

Organizations such as the Guttmacher Institute and Population Action International (PAI) state that the number seven billion reflects the urgent need for people to be able to exercise their right to determine the size and spacing of their families. However, the majority of women and couples, especially in the developing world, are still unable to control their fertility.

In fact, experts estimate that there are currently 215 million women around the world who wish to either delay or prevent pregnancy but lack access to contraceptives. Guttmacher states that these women account for more than 80% of all unintended pregnancies in the developing world every year.

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Posted in Climate Change, Women's Rights=Human Rights

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Anushay’s Point on Al-Jazeera

Posted on October 5, 2011 | 1 Comment

I had my first co-hosting gig today on Al-Jazeera! It was nerve wrecking and exhilarating all at the same time to be on their social media centered show, “The Stream,” discussing the recent Shia protests in Saudi Arabia, India’s ‘Iron Lady’s’ 11 year fast, and a new AIDS game application.

Co-hosting on Al-Jazeera Today.

If you missed the show, you can watch it here. Enjoy!

With Ahmed Shihab Eldin, Host of Al-Jazeera's "The Stream."

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A Meaningless Vote? Saudi Women’s Rights Remain Stagnant

Posted on September 28, 2011 | 4 Comments

“What a difference a day makes, 24 little hours,” is how the song goes, and the line could not ring more true for Saudi women.

This week we saw Saudi King Abdullah grant women the vote in an effort to not only keep the “Arab Spring” away from his Kingdom, but also to quell the the momentum the women’s movement has gained there to remove the country’s notorious driving ban.

But the King is offering too little too late. He is missing the point by responding with the right to vote. Saudi women’s demand to be allowed to drive, a ban which only exists in Saudi Arabia, goes beyond the right to simply be permitted by law to start the engine of your car.

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Anushay’s Point Will Be Back…

Posted on September 17, 2011 | 2 Comments

Picasso's Mother & Child. Image Credit: Flickr

Sorry about the lack of regular posts from me dear readers, both on my personal blog and my regular platforms such as Forbes Woman, Huffington Post, & Ms. Magazine Blog.

I am officially on maternity leave and have been trying to post regularly. My apologies for being away, but be assured I hope to be back after my very brief leave!

Please stay up to date with me on my Facebook and Twitter pages.

Thank you for your continued love and support! I need and rely on it now more than ever.

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‘The Help’ 2011? Domestic Worker Abuse Widespread

Posted on September 13, 2011 | 1 Comment

Domestic servant abuse extends beyond the novel, "The Help". Image Credit: Flickr

Last week, I finally saw the film version of “The Help,” based on the best-selling novel by Kathryn Stockett about the lives of African-American maids working in white people’s homes in 1960′s Jackson, Mississippi. I hadn’t read the book prior to watching the movie which I really loved.

Although the movie showed the racist and unfair treatment of primarily black women at the hands of their white employers, I am sure there were much worse stories the movie did not go into. In fact, just bringing up the topic of the rampant verbal, physical, and mental abuse people inflict upon their domestic help on my Facebook page brought up stories from Dhaka to Potomac, Maryland.

Both before and after the movie, as a Bangladeshi I could not help but let my mind wander beyond the racially segregated America of the 1950′s and 60′s to modern day lives of domestic servants back home. Domestic servant abuse, primarily of female maids but of men and children as well, is so rampant back home that it is practically considered cultural.

Every now and then you’ll hear a story of how someone you know beat their servant so badly he or she ended up in the hospital. And although you may get a gasp here or there as a response, it is largely accepted as a normal part of life. Very rarely do the police get involved and in the rare cases that they do, “justice” is always on the side of the employer. In Bangladesh, and in the Sub-Continent at large, people consider the people who work for them their disposable property to an extent.

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