Brown Don't Frown was borne out of a personal journey with womanhood. As a British Bangladeshi, navigating mainstream Feminism often felt exclusionary to me because it didn’t seem to value the experiences or views which shaped my grandmother’s, aunts’, mother’s or friends’ lives. Through this podcast, we seek to build a more inclusive discourse, which breaks down presumptions about different cultures, and shines a positive light on the stories of underrepresented women. Featuring new guest(s) from different walks of life in each episode, Brown Don’t Frown seeks to engage ordinary women and facilitate openness towards entirely new perspectives. It hopes to spark honest and meaningful conversations about intersectional feminist themes in contemporary society with the acknowledgement that our views are shaped by our cultural, racial, religious, social and political experiences. Whether it's discussing society's preconceptions about the Hijab with a British-born Jamaican Muslim woman or examining the impact of gendered expectations on our ability to grieve on our own terms, we hope listeners finish each episode feeling more rounded than they did before. Follow us on: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/browndontfrownpodcast/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/bdfpodcast?lang=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/browndontfrownpodcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/browndontfrownpodcast
Episodes
Sunday Jan 31, 2021
Sunday Jan 31, 2021
Today we’re joined by Adiba Jaigirdar, author of Young Adult fiction books The Henna Wars, and Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating. She shares with us her journey from Bangladesh, to Saudi Arabia to Ireland, her sense of identity and belonging, and her motivations for writing.
As a Queer Brown author, whose books are about Queer Brown girls, I ask whether she had any challenges with finding an agent who she could trust to represent her and her written work. Adiba talks about personal influences and experiences which inspired the main characters in her books and what she learned about herself when bringing her characters to life. The main character, Nishat in Henna Wars, stays true to herself in the face of resentment from her family after she comes out as a Lesbian and Adiba explains what she hopes Queer teens and young Women of Colour will take away from such themes in the book.
Adiba also tells us a bit about her second novel, Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating, which comes out this summer. As a newly published author, Adiba shares some advice for aspiring Queer novelists from the South Asian, and particularly Bangladeshi, diasporas. Finally, we leave you with our gripes about mainstream feminism and thoughts on reclaiming and reframing its narrative to be inclusive of Muslim women, the Queer space, and especially Queer Women of Colour.
You can follow Adiba on Twitter @adiba_j and Instagram @dibs_j.
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