“Neutrality” Is Political: Defending the Criticism of Fiction

Eli Heina5 Comments

Part 3 of 3.

The devoted fan or adamantly apathetic’s defense against the criticism of fiction is generally is along one or more of three veins.

  1. It’s just fiction and exists merely to entertain. There is no need to take it so seriously.
  2. The adaptation of this fiction cannot be blamed for elements that are true to its source material.
  3. It’s fiction and is not meant to be a political statement / politically correct.

The last one, like the first, is intended to stop people from criticizing at all. Unlike the first, it isn’t entirely disingenuous. Regardless, the argument is invalid for one simple reason: A lack of overt political messaging does not mean that a work of fiction has no messages and is therefore “neutral.” Continue reading ““Neutrality” Is Political: Defending the Criticism of Fiction” →

“Neutrality” Is Political: Defending the Criticism of Fiction
{advertisement}

Abrahamic Influences on Anal Sex: Islam vs. Christianity

Eli Heina6 Comments

This post assumes cis- and hetero- normativity because, in the context of the Abrahamic religions, gender and orientation variance from the cis-het norm isn’t exactly a topic that is heavily covered by the canon.

I swear, this wasn’t my fault or my idea.

Via ask.fm, a video and a question.

did Muslim girls have this idea too?

In case you haven’t seen it yet but don’t want to watch the video (which is inexplicable as Garfunkel and Oates are hilarious), The Loophole is a humorous take on the real-life phenomenon of certain purity-pledging, vaginal-virginity-obsessed Christians having anal sex as a way to avoid tampering with the mythical hymen. The question-asker is wondering if Muslims also have anal sex as a way of avoiding premarital vaginal sex.

In a word: no. But there is another phenomenon regarding anal sex that I uncovered in my research for my talk on LGBT people in the Muslim world.

Continue reading “Abrahamic Influences on Anal Sex: Islam vs. Christianity” →

Abrahamic Influences on Anal Sex: Islam vs. Christianity

Adaptation Is Not An Excuse: Defending the Criticism of Fiction

Eli Heina, , 8 Comments

Part 2 of 3. Content notice for racial slurs.

The criticism of the idea that you can criticize fictional works tends to run along one or more of three veins, from most to least flimsy:

  1. It’s just fiction and exists merely to entertain. There is no need to take it so seriously.
  2. The adaptation of this fiction cannot be blamed for elements that are true to its source material.
  3. It’s fiction and is not meant to be a political statement / politically correct.

The second isn’t as flimsy as the first, but still doesn’t manage to delegimitize the practice of the criticism of fiction. The best recent example with which I have some familiarity comes from the new Constantine TV show. I found the second episode’s treatment of the Rroma/Romani/Rrom/Sinti peoples to be very much in line with the horrific oppression with which they are treated by society. Alex, as someone of Romany descent, has something to say about that. I will turn my focus to episode three, which addresses so-called “voodoo.” In the case of “voodoo”, as with “gypsies”, so far, I’ve found that Constantine punches down in a way that cannot be explained away via loyalty to the source material.

Continue reading “Adaptation Is Not An Excuse: Defending the Criticism of Fiction” →

Adaptation Is Not An Excuse: Defending the Criticism of Fiction

Religious Doubts Can Be Subtle

Eli Heina, 1 Comment

Once upon a time, my writing knew I was going to end up an atheist before I did.

Back in fall of 2005, I was the kind of girl who would have ended up on Patheos Islam, not Freethought Blogs. At the time, I wrote a piece for the Muslim Student Union at UCI’s now-defunct magazine, Alkalima. It apparently is quite popular and has been reposted and even reprinted (without permission, from what I can tell) all over the Internet.

The irony is that, by the time it was published in April 2006, I was a closeted atheist, an outcome that a careful look at the article itself could have predicted.

Continue reading “Religious Doubts Can Be Subtle” →

Religious Doubts Can Be Subtle

Thinking in Translation: Community vs. Ummah

Eli Heina6 Comments

In some cases, when I happen upon a Facebook friend’s share of one of my posts, I wish I hadn’t found it. In other cases, I end up wishing that people still commented on actual posts rather than limited their criticisms to comments on their friends’ shares of links. For the record, I do read all the comments and am a fan of feedback.

The latter happened recently, when Simon Frankel Pratt responded to this particular sentence in my criticism of Reza Aslan:

Aslan seems so dedicated to fighting anti-Muslim bigotry that he underplays the effects of Muslim bigotry and presents the Muslim community as a whole as far more progressive than it actually is.

He took issue with my use of the word “community”, and he is right to do so. However, there is an issue that I only realized was at play when I considered why I had said “community” in the first place: I was thinking in translation.

Continue reading “Thinking in Translation: Community vs. Ummah” →

Thinking in Translation: Community vs. Ummah

Taking It Seriously: Defending the Criticism of Fiction

Eli Heina, , , , 13 Comments

Part 1 of 3.

Whenever anyone has the utter gall — the gall, I say! — to criticize fictional works, especially ones beloved by the person viewing said criticism, the defensive party’s argument is generally is along one or more of three veins.

  1. It’s just fiction and exists merely to entertain. There is no need to take it so seriously.
  2. The adaptation of this fiction cannot be blamed for elements that are true to its source material.
  3. It’s fiction and is not meant to be a political statement / politically correct.

I have ranked them from most to least flimsy, but really, they are all quite flimsy. Here’s why the first holds the least water.

Continue reading “Taking It Seriously: Defending the Criticism of Fiction” →

Taking It Seriously: Defending the Criticism of Fiction

Beauty Level-Up #3: Waterlining

Eli Heina, , , , 4 Comments
a blue eye with its lower waterline outlined in yellow
The part that is outlined in yellow is the lower waterline.

How do you line your waterline without discomfort?

This is where my teenage years of awful makeup come in handy. The first makeup I wore regularly was very stereotypically Desi: black-black smudgy eyeliner in my bottom waterline. The evidence is in my passport photo, in which I look, well, you can see for yourself how rock-wannabe I appeared below the jump.

The results may have looked terrible, but in the long term, the habituation means that I can poke a pencil near my lower eyeball without flinching or blinking very much.

Aside from habituation, there are three other factors to consider when it comes to waterlining.

Continue reading “Beauty Level-Up #3: Waterlining” →

Beauty Level-Up #3: Waterlining

Representing One Ex-Muslim Is Better Than Representing None

Eli Heina, , 1 Comment

In conversations regarding the lack of representation of ex-Muslim voices, I’ve come across a lot of people willing to guess at and speak for ex-Muslims. When I ask that they let the actual ex-Muslim in the conversation (i.e. me) speak, I’m told that I don’t represent all ex-Muslims.

Well, yes. But frankly, at least I’m not a never-Muslim speaking completely out of my arse.

Continue reading “Representing One Ex-Muslim Is Better Than Representing None” →

Representing One Ex-Muslim Is Better Than Representing None

What Anti-Feminists & Reza Aslan Have in Common

Eli Heina, 28 Comments

I didn’t take terribly kindly to the characterization that those of us fighting against our use as props in Dear Muslimah arguments engaged in such arguments via #AnApostatesExperience. Dawkins wasn’t the only person whose arguments were mentioned in the original post, however. Anita Sarkeesian was directly quoted (unlike any ex-Muslims).

There was no ex-Muslim hashtag response to her tweet because her detractors’ arguments are what most resemble those of Reza Aslan, not hers.

Continue reading “What Anti-Feminists & Reza Aslan Have in Common” →

What Anti-Feminists & Reza Aslan Have in Common