Thde American Muslim Woman
1
COMM 550
Final Paper The American Muslim Woman In the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks on the city of New York and its Twin Towers, the existence of Muslims in the United States has increasingly increased apprehensions among the American people. Muslims are lumped together and the American perceptions are based more on stereotyping than actual empirical research, according to Esposito, “All too often the coverage of Islam and the Muslim world conclude there is a monolithic Islam out there somewhere, believing and thinking as one, “The imagery embedded in American’s “has profoundly affected the perception of Islam and the Middle East.”(Esposito, 2009) Points and the concerns about the danger of terrorism have caused for Muslims and Americans to equally be affected in a negative way. Tempers have flared, hatred has been aroused, and hate crimes have been perpetrated against individuals suspected of being linked to terrorism. Often women have been the victims of this prejudice and opposition. Some Americans are deeply persuaded that Muslim women are guilty not only of violent behavior but then also of being suppressed and inferior to men. For these reasons I decided to portray the circumstances of Muslim women in the United States, before 9/11 and after. Hopefully one day the American 2 people will cultivate a more accurate understanding of Islam and the Muslim women in the West. “We are now engaged in a worldwide effort to focus on the brutality against women and children by the Taliban,” declared Laura Bush, the First Lady of the United States, in November of 2001. She addressed the nation with a theme that echoed the Western characterization of Islam and its females. It identified the oppression of women as intimately linked to what is often portrayed as the
COMM 550
Final Paper The American Muslim Woman In the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks on the city of New York and its Twin Towers, the existence of Muslims in the United States has increasingly increased apprehensions among the American people. Muslims are lumped together and the American perceptions are based more on stereotyping than actual empirical research, according to Esposito, “All too often the coverage of Islam and the Muslim world conclude there is a monolithic Islam out there somewhere, believing and thinking as one, “The imagery embedded in American’s “has profoundly affected the perception of Islam and the Middle East.”(Esposito, 2009) Points and the concerns about the danger of terrorism have caused for Muslims and Americans to equally be affected in a negative way. Tempers have flared, hatred has been aroused, and hate crimes have been perpetrated against individuals suspected of being linked to terrorism. Often women have been the victims of this prejudice and opposition. Some Americans are deeply persuaded that Muslim women are guilty not only of violent behavior but then also of being suppressed and inferior to men. For these reasons I decided to portray the circumstances of Muslim women in the United States, before 9/11 and after. Hopefully one day the American 2 people will cultivate a more accurate understanding of Islam and the Muslim women in the West. “We are now engaged in a worldwide effort to focus on the brutality against women and children by the Taliban,” declared Laura Bush, the First Lady of the United States, in November of 2001. She addressed the nation with a theme that echoed the Western characterization of Islam and its females. It identified the oppression of women as intimately linked to what is often portrayed as the
Bibliography: