The American media has a tendency to portray Muslims in a negative light. Some pity Muslims while others feel pure disdain for them. This statement made by Ann Coulter (2001) following the September 11th terrorist attacks demonstrates the disdain for Muslims, “We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity” (as cited in Arab American National Museum, 2011). While this particular statement was directed at all Muslims, there are also many misconceptions directed solely at Muslim women. In this essay, I will discuss the issue of Muslim women and some of the ways in which their reality contradicts the common media representations of women in that area.
The first common media representation of Muslim women that I will dispel is that they have no rights. In fact, long before Western women even realized they were lacking in rights, Muslim women already had both cultural and spiritual rights (as cited in Arab Women: Potentials and Prospects, n.d.). This is so because to quote Akbar S. Ahmed (1999), “Islam is the religion of equality” (p. 151). Prior to Islam women were controlled by the rules of their individual tribes and some of those tribes provided many rights while others were quite chauvinistic (as cited in Arab Women: Potentials and Prospects, n.d.). The birth of Islam freed the women in chauvinistic societies and as Nouha al-Hegelan (1980) an Arab immigrant to the United States, said “gave them the dignity of humanity and the pride of being a woman” (as cited in Arab Women: Potentials and Prospects, n.d.). The rights provided by Islam include the right to initiate divorce, to inherit property, to voice their opinions regarding home and public life, to conduct business and even own...
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...ndividuals or certain Muslim groups that practice things that align with the Western stereotypes, but despite them practicing it, their actions are not the teachings of Islam. There may also be non-Muslim individuals or groups that practice those things, but again they are not following the teaching of Islam.
Works Cited
Ahmed, A. S. (1999). Islam Today: A Short Introduction to the Muslim World. New York: I. B. Tauris.
Allen, M. (2006). Arabs . New York: Continuum.
Arab American National Museum. (2011). Remarks by Leaders, Scholars and Pundits. Retrieved October 6, 2011, from Reclaiming Identity: Dismantling Arab Stereotypes: http://arabstereotypes.org/popular-perceptions/remarks-leaders-scholars-and-pundits
Arab Women: Potentials and Prospects. (n.d.). Retrieved October 6, 2011, from Cornell.edu: http://www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/mideast/arbwomn.htm
...areas of emphasis. In contrast, Leila Ahmed analyzes representations and mores of Muslim women in different social and religious contexts in order to draw conclusions about their effect on women’s--and men’s in relation to women’s--status, in earlier periods of Islam, as well as the further-reaching implications they have had for modern Muslim societies.
On September 11, 2001, since the terrorist attacks, many American Muslims have been stereotyped negatively in the United States. Salma, a Muslim woman, says that the way Muslims have been recognized in the media has played a big role in the antagonisms directed to her. “I don’t know how many time I heard my classmates accuse me of being al-Qaeda or a terrorist” (Mayton 2013). Salma, along with other Muslims, even after a decade, are still struggling with trying to find their “American” and “Islamic” identities, while facing verbal attacks for their ethnicity. Too often, the general Muslin population gets lumped in with the immoral acts of a few because of the lack of knowledge about their culture.
...enging Myths of Muslim Women: The Influence of Islam On Arab-American Women's Labor Force Activity. Muslim World, 92(1/2), 19. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
In the Koran women are repeatedly regarded as inferiors to men. Women are given less rights and privileges in contrast to men. Women are seen as objects to own and control, and not as equals.
In the essay, the writer acknowledges the misunderstandings that come from media images by explaining the contrasts between these images and the teachings of the faith to support her claim that fear is the reason for this misconception. The conception that many people have of Muslims is that they are terrorists, anti-Semites, and fanatics. This conception exsists because television news and newspapers support that stereotype. The broadcast of such stereotypes encourages fear and accusations of the Islamic relegion's teachings. The writer explains that Islam teaches peace, tolerance, and equality. She further states that Muslims shown in the media have violated these teachings ...
Hilāl, ʻAlī Al-Dīn. Islamic Resurgence in the Arab World. New York, NY: Praeger, 1982. Print.
Islam in America has historically been misunderstood, and this is due to the misconception of culture and religion as well as lack of education and incorrect portrayal in the media, which gives a skewed idea of Islam. Especially in the United States, Islam has been seen as the “terrorist religion” or a religion for the extremists and a religion in which freedom is not an option. Among the countless misconceptions, the basis of stereotypes by Americans is due to the mix up between religion and culture. Furthermore, the media only fuels fire to these misunderstandings and lack of factual information about Islam causing Americans to lash out on American Muslims without reason.
Esposito, John L. (2011). What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam, 2d. New York: Oxford University Press, ISBN-13: 978-1-60927-041-4
The first religion and its views on women that will be discussed in this essay is Islam. Islam is a religions founded in Saudi Arabia almost two thousand years ago, by the prophet Muhammad. In fact, Muhammad dedicated much attention towards women in the Koran, the holy book of Islam. However, even though much was dedicated to women in the Koran, it was not dedicated to them in the sense of equality. Women in Islamic culture were apparently much lower on the totem pole than men, "The men are made responsible for the women, since God endowed them with certain qualities, and made them the bread earners...If you experience opposition from the women, you shall first talk to them, then [you may use such negative incentives as] deserting them in bed, then you may beat them (129)." Excerpt...
Middle Eastern women need to stand up for their rights and get educated to reverse the notion that they are servants and properties of their men. Furthermore, they need to rise up to their potentials and prove beyond doubt that they are equal to men. This practice would lead the path for future generations to follow and protect the inalienable rights of women. Finally, these women need to break the cycle of oppression by addressing these deeply rooted beliefs, gaining the tools to fight back, and joining forces to make lifelong changes.
Deeb, Mary-Jane. Freedom House. Women’s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa-Oman, 2010. http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=179 (accessed August 14, 2010)
E. Anway, Carol, L (Dec 95) Daughters Of Another Path: Experiences Of American Women Choosing Islam. Missouri: Yawna Publications.
Rippin A. 1990, Muslims, Their Religious Beliefs and Practices Volume 1: The Formative Period, Routledge, London and New York.
...So their Lord accepted their prayers, (saying): I will not suffer to be lost the work of any of you whether male or female. You proceed one from another ...(Qur'an 3: 195).
...el the status of women in the Muslim world today as "Islamic" is as far from the truth as labeling the position of women in the West today as "totally liberated and equal".