Fig & Olive

Recently there was an article about the inheritance law in Islam and the effort among some Muslim women to do away with it. My initial reaction was disappointment with the Muslim Feminists in their lack of acknowledging that within a larger Islamic context the unequal share of inheritance Muslim women get is balanced out by […]

When I would hear about how much clothes the average American threw away yearly I’d mentally pat myself on the back knowing that my family would never dream of throwing away clothes, we gave our old clothes to the salvation army. But as I continued to learn about the consumption habits of the typical Westerner […]

Despite having grown up in a decent black neighborhood, many of my peers lived in female-led households. That absence wasn’t born out of the woman’s choice to lead but a set of unfortunate circumstances that left them in that predicament. While doing research on housewives I was saddened but not shocked that only 8% of […]

Because the imaginary of black women (and black people in general) is so limited in the media, every image takes on a crucial importance and is forced to be taken a lot more seriously than entertainment ever should be. Black Panther is one of the first movies of its kind, scale and reach to feature […]

Men have traditionally been providers and protectors, increasingly both roles are criticized, deemed insignificant or even demonized. Modern Western society believes men should be more involved in their children’s lives, more nurturing and less “cold” —as their fathers’ generation was said to be. But as with the significant loss we face with fewer women taking […]

Gender Differences While the biggest gender pay gap is not merely between men and women but rather between married women with children and everyone else, there is still a gender pay gap between single childless women and men. The gender pay gap between single (childless) women compared to men is $0.04, $0.96 for every man’s […]

So how can we make the workplace more friendly to women, esp. women with children? Here are a few ideas: Baby on board One businesswoman, I’ve always looked up to was Rachel Zoe, she seems to have it all —the man, the business, the baby. But she became even more of a hero to me […]

Making equal pay the main issue women face in the workforce is a mistake. Women make $0.76 compared to every dollar men make —black women make even less, on the surface that seems pretty outrageous, sexist and an issue that deserves continuous attention until resolved. But that’s on the surface. When you delve into the […]

I find some people are turned off by minimalism and somehow believe it is something only the privileged might indulge in. Only the one who has known “the good life” can denounce it. I suppose this assumption is warranted, many of the popular minimalist stories -including the story of The Minimalists, feature people who lived […]

I’ve heard it a lot, particularly in the black community and steadily growing sentiment in mainstream culture -partly influenced by feminism, we need to teach our daughters to be independent. It seems like an obvious statement, teach your daughters to be independent so they don’t have to depend on men and they can take care […]