A guidebook for navigating interfaith marriages across religions “Things were hard as she stated, this was not easy, would it be easier if I was Christian or she Muslim? Maybe. All relationships require compromising and ours just happens to be a little more personal than others” – Amir Webb 2016 Today, interfaith marriages are more common […]
Redefining Family: Buddhism, Love, and Taiwan’s Fight for Same-Sex Marriage Equality
Image Source: Harvard Divinity Bulletin This blog explores the intersection of Buddhism and LGBTQ+ rights in Taiwan, highlighting the pioneering role of Master Shih, a Buddhist nun and outspoken advocate for same-sex marriage equality. This blog illustrates how Shih challenges traditional notions of family and love within Buddhist teachings, emphasizing inclusivity and compassion. It also […]
Virgin, Mother, Whore
This series discusses how Christianity often categorizes women as either the Virgin, the Mother, or the Whore, with sexuality being the deciding factor in how they’re viewed. It looks at the contrast between “pious” women and those labeled as “disobedient,” tying it all back to the idea that God controls man, and man controls woman. Through collages that showcase these restrictive categories, I hope to show how these rigid tropes limit women and start a conversation about why sexuality plays such a big role in defining their worth.
Faith and Fling: Muslims in U of R’s Hookup Culture
I’m examining the complexity of hookup culture for Muslims at the University of Rochester, focusing on how cultural and religious values shape individuals’ approaches to casual relationships and sexual expectations. Hookup culture, often assumed to be a default part of college life, is challenging for some students who feel pressured by this assumption, even if […]
Modern Deviation from Traditional Marriage
In the dawn of major social change regarding lifestyle ideals, gender roles, and normalizing secular beliefs, marriage is slowly gaining a different reputation than it had centuries, or even mere decades ago. Many people today have begun to overlook the religious origins of marriage and its historical context. In the Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam), […]
Being a Good Religious Wife
There are 32 countries that allow marital rape. Of the 150+ countries that do, some explicitly criminalize it, some it is simply considered the same as non-marital sexual assault etc. Some of those countries may in theory not exclude marital rape from being a crime, but those laws have never been tested, in effect meaning […]
Contraception in Islam
Religious views on contraception vary from being completely prohibited to being allowed under certain circumstances. While Judaism displays more tolerance for contraceptive methods when the health of the pregnant woman is threatened, traditional Catholic views are much more stringent because procreation is viewed as the one and only goal of marital sex. Therefore, it follows […]
Sexuality and the AAPI Community: What Is It?
“Asian men are not attractive” “Arranged marriage is the only option” “Asian women are docile and vulnerable” Many stereotypes fall under the category of what it means to be Asian American in today’s society. Race plays a large role dealing with the stigmas around sexuality and gender, especially amongst the younger generation. For years the […]