The Representation Of Muslim Women

Imagine being treated like you have little to no value at all because you dress differently or have different rights. A lot of Muslim women experience this on a daily basis. People in public stare or criticize them simply because they are different. Years ago, Muslim women had almost no rights. Although they have gained certain rights and responsibilities, many people still treat them with little respect. Muslim women’s rights have changed in many ways, including the way they are allowed dress, who and when they can marry, and their independence in general.

The issue of women in Islam is highly controversial. As a Muslim American living in the United States many times I get judged about my religion. People think that because I am a Muslim woman in America I am being restricted from many things and can’t be like every other woman in America. Islam has many similarities with other religion and it does have its differences. Being raised as a Muslim woman in America has made me the strong and independent woman I am today. I am going to be talking about my own religion that I’m well knowledgeable of. What the media shows and how people talk badly about the religion is truly ruining the religion and its true beauty. Woman in Islam are not being oppressed for anything there’s true beauty behind this

In recent years, America’s attention has been gripped by stories of women who have escaped from the Middle East. Each has a unique story, but they all have the same themes of oppression, abuse, and domination. Americans rushed onto the scene ready to “save” Middle Eastern women and many of the activists are now been highly praised for the influence they made in the region. Others, however, have come to question whether the Muslim women in the Middle East really needed the U.S. to rescue them from Islam. *Insert Thesis*

The Nation of Islam empowered many blacks in a time and place where the concept of power was used to oppress. Christianity being a white man’s religion in the eyes of the oppressed, Islam was used in America as a tool for confirmation of beauty. The reminder of inner beauty for the people of color caused substantial growth and powerful movement that impacted American history for generations. The same principles that hoped to empower and give freedom towards African Americans is the same principles that continue to mask the beauty of the Muslim woman. How can two oppressed groups of people, blacks and woman, find two very different outcomes when practicing the Islam faith? Recognizing the differences between the Nation of Islam and the other sects of Islam faith, there is still a center focus on self identity and living into that mold. For some, that means taking back what has been taken away from them, freedom. For others, it continues to mean denying inner desires for something greater than following social norms.

unequally in marriage, in court, and in society. Difficulty through marriage for Muslim women can come from age, divorce, and having to be subservient to their husbands. Not only is there difficulty in marriage, but also in the unequal treatment in the islamic justice systems, such as when “evidence given by a female witness counts for half that given by a man” (Dargie 22). Although the societies of major Islamic countries differ, it is clear that women are not represented equally to men in any of them, for example having to dress and act certain ways so as not to attract any attention from men. However, there are Islamic women who are willing to change how their religion views females by speaking out and encouraging others to do the same.

The Quran is the text that guides the Islamic society, and is meant to be the everlasting word of God. Given that the word of the Quran is the word of God, women in Islamic society should be treated as equal with men. If women were given equal religious matters and independent legal status, then in a society which revolves around religion, women should have the same rights as men. They should also be given the freedom to make their own decisions pertaining to most issues. American Muslim women today are struggling to address the stereotypes and misconceptions that come with the role of being a woman in Islam. Muslim women occupy a large variety of important positions in American life: medical doctors, engineers, lawyers, chemists, housewives, broadcast journalists, professors, clerical workers, business women, schoolteachers. Some are immigrants, from countries ranging from Saharan Africa to Indonesia, while many others were born in America; some American Muslim women were raised in Muslim homes, while others

In society, there are some misconceptions about who Muslim women are and the identity they have. Through hasty generalizations, Muslim women are often depicted as being only Arab, figures of oppression, and being poles apart with everyone. Popular media fails to recognize the diversity in this group in terms of race, ethnicity, nationality, cultural norms, gender role, education attainment level, occupation and upbringing. I believe that the intersection of social inequalities in these identifying components has rendered Muslim women invisible in society.

In this essay I will assess and focus on why this is so, as well as recent new stresses the media has established throughout society.

We as individuals are developed through both our singular characteristics and external surroundings. Where a change of events within our life can alter our perceptions thus our entire reality. As humans, we generally receive the impacts of events and the changes to our surrounding environments these cause, through the dispersion of the Media. As we are often exposed to the delivery of information, both visually and verbally, we are often unable to escape such influences, thus making it crucial on the responsibility of the media. Whether it be from the delivery of the correct interpretation of events or the diminishing of any false information through manipulation. By doing this, it sees the correct shaping of our individual manners to be free

As I was researching the topic of Muslim Women Movements I came across The Nation. I first accessed the site http://www.thenation.com/article/177467/rise-islamic-feminists?page=0,0 on May 1st.

In the past decade, Islam has been viewed as a male dominant religion. Many people in the west proclaim that Muslim women are forced to wear and do things out of their own will and, therefore, the western society perceives Muslim women as a symbol of oppression. The main subject of controversy is the Islamic veil. In addition, the west proclaims Islam to be a sexist religion as the Muslim women are not held equal to men including a limited amount of women’s rights in Islam. In the Deepa Kumar article, Kumar exposes what the western countries try and have done to uphold women’s rights. The western countries compare the Muslim dominated countries to themselves which results in a clash of civilization. This is occurs as the western culture and values do not equate with the culture and values the Muslim dominated countries possess. In addition, France had banned the hijab on a similar argument as other western countries as they attempt to “liberate” Muslim women. In contrast, these rulings of “liberation” have backlashed on the societies affected. Deepa Kumar states that neither Afghan nor French women have benefited from the attempt of “liberation” but, in fact, made it worse. These controversies of “oppressed” Muslim women gave the west a humble chance to rescue the victims.

Media plays an enormous role on people’s lives. For the good or for the bad, people tend to believe what they constantly see on the internet, television, newspapers and magazines. What the media wants to do is to make an affect on someone. It can literally be anything. As long as something that is said in the media creates or makes an impact on that particular person, the media has done

Most people have seen a woman walking down the street or in a mall clad in what appears to be scarves wrapped around her head, covering her hair, ears, and neck. In some situations these women even have a veil covering up most of their face. This is becoming a common occurrence in the United States as the Islamic population grows. Some may view this as a way to make these women subservient, making it seem like they don’t have an identity or a voice. This leaves many to wonder why they would wear such a thing in modern America where women are treated as equals and do have a voice. The truth behind the headscarf does

Women's Status in Islam In Islam, women and men are equal in terms of their relationship with Allah. It can be clearly seen that Allah has created men and women differently, this is so that they may fulfil different purposes in life. It is not a question of the superiority of one gender over another, rather it is a matter of role differentiation. Islam teaches that men and women complement one another and are both equally important.

          The role of woman, her position and status in society, and her nature have been issues of debate and discussion informed by religion, tradition and culture, misogyny, feminism and - many times - downright ignorance and bigotry.