This makes no sense at all. Malaysia is home to an ethnic Indian population of millions. Indian women traditionally wear saris with bare middles, and no way would Malaysian laws interfere with the delicate balance of ethnic harmony so carefully maintained in that country since the riots of 1969. It's blatantly inconsistent to outlaw bare middles for everyone except sari-clad Indian women. Maybe a test case could get the law thrown out on that basis--but my feeling about attitudes in Malaysia is they tend to make regulations more for symbolism than substance.

Last week while I was attempting to enter a government building through an electronic security scanner, I beeped it. Even after taking off all my jewelry and placing it into the little container provided--I still beeped. At that point the guard said it was OK and I could go through, though it was a mystery to me what had beeped the second time. He said it was my "shoes" though now I think that was a euphemism. Shoes don't do that.

It must have been my underwire. The scanner was of a type that was able to gauge the height of the metal that set off the alarm. The guard had too much a sense of decorum to tell me the beep was made at the height of my bra.

This is the dumbest, wrongest excuse for advice I have ever seen Cary write. Earth to Cary--not everyone plays to stereotypes. Many women simply prefer to be themselves without wearing "masks" or playing "trickster." What a clueless crock of crap, Cary! It doesn't look like Cary has any experience with women in the real world, outside of a narrow range of mask-wearers perhaps, if those are the assumptions he makes. I'm a dyke myself, and female self-presentation just is not confined to the narrow assumptions he makes about us. And I think LW's boss is an asshole. But Cary's answer is worse than no answer at all. LW should crumple and toss it, her lesbian friends would likely be a knowledgeable and reliable source of good advice.

inna lillah wa inna ilayhi raji‘un

We are of Allah, and to Allah we return.

Farewell brave warrior woman.

My favorite of the genre. Anthony Burgess carefully crafted a language just for it using real linguistic principles.

It said everything it needed to say-- and the setup was perfect. Cheney absolutely belonged in there.

Seriously, 2-inch high heels are practically as easy on feet as flats, and are heeled enough to satisfy sexist job situations. Wouldn't that be a compromise that could satisfy everyone?

I've given serious thought to this question. My choice is Spain, because their LGBT legal equality (including equality for transgender and same-sex marriage) is on the whole more advanced than in Scandinavia even. The climate is better, I like Spanish cuisine better, I am more familiar with the Spanish language, and being dark complexioned I would be in a country of people who look like me for once.

I'm awestruck knowing my vote in Virginia went toward the victorious total. What a sweet, sweet victory this is for all people of the world.

I wish she would stay in the Senate and lead the fight for health care! It's a shame to call off her fight for that now when it stands a realistic chance of success for the first time. Although Ted Kennedy has been made the leader of this issue, which may have influenced her decision to leave the Senate, we don't know how much longer he would last, and then she would be the leader of it. She had the potential to become a great senator, and I really think she'd be better placed and more effective there. I'm wondering--what were they thinking by this appointment? I just don't get it.

The public hasn't noticed it yet... but I see the signs of it happening now... and it will become revolutionary.

Pamela Taylor, the leader of Muslims for Progressive Values; Melissa Robinson, the leader of the American Islamic Fellowship; and Mina Trudeau, the leader of al-Fatiha Foundation, are three American Muslim women leaders with a strongly LGBT-positive agenda. They are the face of progressive Islam nowadays and a look at the future of the religion.

Feminism in Middle Eastern Muslim countries is currently suffering a severe backlash, but only because America's unpopular aggressive foreign policy under the Bush administration has strengthened the fundamentalists who divert attention from their own failings by associating feminism with hated Western influence in their countries. But indigenous grass-roots empowerment of women has been underway in Muslim countries for years, and I believe it will prove to have long-term influence ultimately greater than fundamentalism. Shirin Ebadi represents the future of women in the Middle East.

Richard Rodriguez is a brilliant analyst and right on the money when he links feminism with LGBT liberation. I loved this article. But his statement that "Allah is male" is very problematic. It's clear why that is a popular misconception, but in Islamic theology Allah is very specifically not gendered. However, in the the metaphors and similes used in the Qur'an and hadiths, Allah is never called father, unlike Christianity and Judaism. In fact, it's always Jews and Christians who call Allah male, which is more a case of looking through their accustomed lenses. Islamic discourse never speaks that way.

On the contrary, the Prophet specifically compared Allah to a mother. There seems to be some continuity within Islam from the previous religion of Mecca, which venerated a Mother Goddess. Arabs in ancient times were known as a matriarchal people, a trace of which survives in legends of the Queen of Sheba. There is more to Arabia and Islam than meets the eye superficially.