The Chinese government would have you believe a good Uighur woman is one who knows how to apply false eyelashes and cook dumplings. She is neither too modest nor too forward. She is “good at singing and dancing.” Since leaving China, I have spent a lot of time reflecting on what it means to be a Uighur woman. This year in particular, I spent International Women’s Day thinking
At a weekend school in the US state of Virginia, language classes serve a dual purpose for young Uyghurs cultural preservation, and access to vocabulary to discuss the plight of relatives in China.