I know I’ve been neglecting you. There are so many stories I haven’t told you, and even lots of pictures of my trip that I haven’t put online. I didn’t even tell you about the three days of trekking around Torres del Paine (so beautiful! I’ve never been that sore in my life!!) or Tierra del Fuego or any of that. It’s not because I don’t love you, I swear it, blog. I do, I do. It’s just that I hit the ground running when I got back, and, well, I’m still running. I’m pretty sure that my school’s pedagogy is that if you make it to May without collapsing with exhaustion, they’ll ordain you. I’m playing catchup today with work (proofing galleys for my book!!) and then tomorrow’s a new week, off to the races again. I don’t really have time to answer email anymore, and blogging is just a whole other level of sophistication.

I’ll try to be better, blog. I appreciate your patience and understanding. I do miss the times that we’ve had together.

In the meantime, here’s something swell for you. The awesome Shabana Mir has written a piece called How Not to Rescue Muslim Women. It starts as she’s overhearing a debate among students about whether the West should impose its righteous feminism onto Muslim women, or whether, in the words of one, “‘women in the Middle East don’t need as much education. Why should we force them to get more education and to marry late?'” Mir has what to say on the subject, and the binary thinking:

…It hadn’t occurred to my baristas that “those people” had already come up with ideas, strategies, and jihads to try to change patriarchal norms and oppressive customs. It hadn’t occurred to them that brown and black folks who spoke funny languages were sometimes engaged in a life-and-death struggle to change societal practices….

Muslim women are done being rescued. Muslim women are done being defined. Muslim women are done being told what they need. Muslim women could use help, doing what they think they should do.

Women could use help in the worldwide community of patriarchy. Muslim women are engaged in struggles for humanity, equality and justice as are their global sisters. They sure could use some help. But when they reach out for assistance, they call for a few ground rules…..

To find out what Mir suggests, check out the whole thing here.