Heina Dadabhoy

Heina Dadabhoy [hee-na dad-uh-boy] spent her childhood as a practicing Muslim who never in her right mind would have believed that she would grow up to be an atheist feminist secular humanist, or, in other words, a Skepchick. She has been an active participant in atheist organizations and events in and around Orange County, CA since 2007. She is currently writing A Skeptic's Guide to Islam. You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+.
  • Feminism

    Growing Up Online: Why & How I Care About the Comments

    This post contains graphic discussions of bodies and pornography. TW for body image issues. I can’t pretend that some of my reasons for engaging in the comment sections aren’t personal. I first hopped online when I was just over a decade old. As I had been socialized almost exclusively among other Muslims, the Internet was my chance to interact with people…

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  • Feminism

    Talking About Unwanted Attention & Harassment Differently

    Included in yesterday’s Quickies is a link addressing the internet-infamous phenomenon of the Nice Guy. The clever piece turned the narrative of the Nice Guy around and humorously expressed female frustration with the “Girlfriend Zone.” Earlier, more crude versions call it the “Fuck Zone.” I understand that it’s meant to be a flip of the classic “Friend Zone” (or even “Ladder Theory”) narrative…

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  • Activism

    Why I Will Always & Forever Read the Comments

    Lately, it seems that I can’t turn anywhere on the Internet without coming across statuses, memes, and even entire Twitter accounts dedicated to anti-comment sentiment. People repeat the refrain over and over: don’t read the comments. While I understand that reading and engaging with the comments can be incredibly exhausting and that not everyone is up for the task, I…

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  • Feminism

    How to Stop Patronizing Your Fat Friend: Self-Loathing Edition

    Trigger Warning for Body Image Issues and Eating Disorders So you’ve stopped making the political into the personal when it comes to your fat friend. That’s awesome! Thank you so much for hearing what your fat friend has to say rather than your own internalized assumptions about her feelings. “But sometimes,” you tentatively begin, “I hear her actually hating on…

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  • Feminism

    How to Stop Patronizing Your Fat Friend: Fatphobia Edition

    Trigger Warning for Body Image Issues and Eating Disorders Ah, fat — that charged, overloaded, connotation-carrying word. There is a lot I could say about the word, but for the sake of my point, let us fast-forward past the debates over fat-shaming, Health at Every Size, thin privilege, BMI, and so on. Let us make even more haste as we…

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  • Parenting

    Tiger Moms: Harsh Parenting, Harsh Outcomes

    Trigger Warning for Suicide, Self-Harm, and Depression Remember Amy Chua, the woman who wrote The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother but ended up singing The Siren Song of the Back-Pedaler? Over two years after the publishing of her memoir and the explosion surrounding it, her name is passing lips again thanks to Slate reporting on pertinent research regarding Asian-American parenting…

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  • Religion

    Politeness as Manipulation: Ray Comfort

    In addition to helping fund-raise for the Orange County Freethought Alliance Conference this year, I’ve been a volunteer for the con since its first year and spoke there last year. People who knew I was there asked me if I ran into Ray Comfort. When I’ve told them that I left during the dinner break, they have lamented the fact that I missed out on…

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  • Feminism

    What Feminism Definitely Doesn’t Look Like

    I once wrote about what I call fauxminism, poking fun at “empowered” women who do little to nothing for (or even who actually hinder) other women’s choices and freedom. That’s one thing. This is another thing, entirely. Recently, I had the distinct displeasure of overhearing two men laugh it up over domestic abuse. As it really wasn’t my conversation and…

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