American Muslim Women Resist Soft Target Stereotype

Today’s media is saturated with stories featuring Muslim women targeted by predators infused with hatred.  One consequence of tenacious presentations of Muslim women as victims promotes stereotypes of them as feeble soft targets for anti-Muslim aggression.  8 Muslim women writers and thinkers (including me) share their perspectives about social narratives making them less safe.

The Salafi Feminist

The media’s framing of Muslim women as passive victims plays into a convenient narrative that lends to the idea of nonMuslims – or rather, “The West” – being needed to swoop in and rescue us. Despite the fact that Muslim women today are being targeted almost directly because of the media itself and its role in demonizing Islam and Muslims, we are still always portrayed as never quite able to represent or stand up for ourselves. No one wants to know about the Muslim women who can and do play proactive roles – we are, by and large, used as props for various agendas and propaganda.

Next: Hind Makki