Gendered Islamophobia In The Us
You are not what you say, but what you do, and the consequences of what you become. Islamophobia is the deep extreme dislike or prejudice against Islam and Muslims. Being Islamophobic is not expressing with you disagree with, but hate-speech against Muslims and Islam, and acting based on this hatred.
A lot of people think that Islam does not does any justice or equality to women, because of the fact that in islam, women have Islamic dress codes that symbolizes modesty and physical integrity, and identifies them from non-Muslims, marking them as targets for hate crimes, discrimination, and possible violations of their bodily integrity
Gendered Islamophobia is a specific form of racialized discrimination that has been going on for a while, having negative stereotypes against them which causes different forms of oppression against Muslim women. The oppression they face are in access to educational, financial, health, and social resources There has been a recent study in Toronto that indicates 29 out of 32 muslim women wearing the hijab had their employer making references of their hijab and not being accepted in the job just because of her head scarf (Keung, 2002; Smith, 2002). As well as their cultural identity that is shaped by structural social and cultural constraints provided by gender socialization and patriarchal processes, that also justify certain types of discrimination
A lot of these Muslim women immigrate for a better life for themselves and kids, however, being a minority in a Western country results in social and economic marginalization. In addition, the language barriers result in loss of power, influence and control their religious identity, which results in their separation from men and the wider society
There are countries in Europe and Canada, such as France and Quebec, ban Muslim girls wearing their hijab in any public schools. Believing by banning the hijab, this ensures equality between all female students. Those who supported the idea argued that “the veil is a sign of imprisonment that considers women to be sub-humans under the law of Islam” (cited in Gutmann, 1996, p. 161). Quebec voted and supported the ban of hijab in schools, claiming that the wearing of a distinctive sign like the hijab or neo-Nazi insignias, which could make students more aggressive.
Identifiable Muslim women are also seen as the threatening other in some contexts; not only someone who needs saving, but also from whom the nation needs saving. While the veil is often taken as a sign of submissiveness, it is also taken as a sign of Islamic aggression. So, if women are not characterized as exotic, or as oppressed, especially when they are veiled, they are represented as mysterious, dangerous and threatening. This is an example by the controlling image of ‘Muslim-as-terrorist.’ Thus, covered women are represented as ‘agents’ of terrorism or, as mentioned before, in France, thy banned the hijab.
Women spoke of the detrimental impact racism had on their sense of wellbeing; freedom of movement and sense of safety; sense of belonging and participation in society; and sense of control and agency over their lives. Many participants stated that they experienced a consistent sense of low grade fear and vulnerability (Islamic Women's Welfare Council of Victoria Inc [IWWCV], 2008). Several studies corroborate the observation that their real and potential victimization has the intended effect of terrorizing and instilling fear among Muslim women – fear of violence, fear of harassment, fear of profiling, and a generalized fear of appearing in public (Abu-Ras & Suarez, 2009; Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission [HREOC], 2004; Kwan, 2008).
Many view the current heightened racial and religious tensions as signifying the failure of the multicultural project. However most blame the Muslim society for being terrorists, now and historically. Muslim feminists have long attempted to negotiate these pressures with reference to their faith and the Qur’anic precepts of peace, social justice and gender equality. The individual right in Islam to ijtihad.
There has been a recent increase in Muslim women’s wearing of the veil has been associated with the assertion of a Muslim identity and a defending of a Muslim community that feels under attack especially from the West. The common slogans that often accompany the violence against Muslims reveal a strong sense of the illegitimacy of Arab residence in the west along with a similarly strong desire for revenge. While the current wave of anti-Muslim violence clearly was motivated by anger and outrage at the 9/11 terrorist attacks, it is also informed by a broader history and culture that supports anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, and anti-Middle East sentiments. Muslims and Arabs in general have a long history of defamation, violence, and non-violent discrimination in the US. Also,, the past and current patterns are nested in an array of cultural and political practices that enable the hostility to fester, and violence to ensue.
