Discrimination against Muslim Women
Muslim Woman in Stars and Stripes Hijab
When looking into a crowd, many people stand out, it may be by the way they look or by the way they dress. As a Muslim woman, I wear a hijab, for some people who don't know what a hijab is; A hijab is a veil worn by Muslim women in the presence of any male outside of their immediate family, which usually covers the head and chest area. The term can refer to any head, face, or body covering worn by Muslim women that conforms to Islamic standards of modesty.
An opportunity for discrimination is found when one looks slightly different that the "norms" of society. Unfortunately, many Muslim women face discrimination for wearing the hijab.
It is against this backdrop, some women are declaring the hijab instead as liberating. Feminists — some in an attempt to sympathize with discrimination encountered by those who choose to wear the hijab — celebrate it and wear it in solidarity, but neglect to mention those who have no choice. While 180 countries now celebrate World Hijab Day, participants often fail to mention the millions of women who view it as a sign of their oppression. It’s mostly the political right that brings attention to that inconvenient truth. Critics, such as Maajid Nawaz, argue that it spreads a "misleading interpretation" to the public that the hijab is always voluntary.[1]
Social Media:
This journal article explores the topic of Muslim women and the hijab through a social media lens. The author goes into detail about a twitter post that shook the Muslim/feminist twitter society. In participating in these social networks, a user is connected to a global community of other users through a platform that encourages connection between its users. By creating open spaces in which one has the capacity to engage in sharing information with other users, social media offers a fruitful space for conversation regarding certain topics such as identity.[10]
Discrimination found in the work place:
A study done by Doris Weichselbaumer looks at discrimination Muslim women face in Germany. The author applies the method of correspondence testing that allows measuring discrimination in a controlled field setting. Findings show that when applying for a job in Germany, women with a Turkish migration background are less likely to be invited for an interview, and the level of discrimination increases substantially if the applicant wears a headscarf. The results suggest that immigrant women who wear a headscarf suffer discrimination based on multiple stigmas related to ethnicity and religion.[3]
Discrimination in Politics:
This USA today article discusses the different political views on the hijab. A survey was done between the Democrats and Republicans. The survey shows that the most salient stereotype about Americans of Islamic faith, held by liberals and conservatives alike, is that Muslims “have outdated views of women." [4]
Discrimination worldwide:
This article focuses more on discrimmination muslim women face in European countries, especially France. According to recent reports by organizations like the Collective Against Islamophobia in France and Tell Mama in the UK, Islamophobia appears to be an extremely gender-biased form of discrimination: between 58 percent (UK) and 78 percent (France) of reported cases of discrimination concern women. This is likely due in part to the fact that many Muslim women are easily identified as Muslim. [5]
This study looks at discrimination Muslim women face in Germany. The author applies the method of correspondence testing that allows measuring discrimination in a controlled field setting. Findings show that when applying for a job in Germany, women with a Turkish migration background are less likely to be invited for an interview, and the level of discrimination increases substantially if the applicant wears a headscarf. The results suggest that immigrant women who wear a headscarf suffer discrimination based on multiple stigmas related to ethnicity and religion. [6]
This study address perceived discrimination among South Asian Muslim women living in the US and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). US participants reported greater perceptions of discrimination than UAE participants. In both countries, perceived discrimination mainly took the form of subtle nuances rather than direct harassment. Although participants reported the greatest intensity of perceived discrimination at work, hijabis (women who wear the Islamic headscarf) felt this more than non-hijabis. [9]
Discrimination from infancy:
This study focuses on the religious aspect and how discrimination faced by muslim women may start at infancy. This is a culture whereby female infant, are buried alive, this culture has constantly been questioned as the infant has committed no crime yet she is killed. Some of the Islamic populations select which babies to keep; female infanticide has lead to abnormal ratio whereby the ratio of boys is higher than that of girls. Thus Muslim women face discrimination from as little as infants do .Also as seen from the above discussion, there have been very many instances showing how Muslim women have continued to be discriminated and have faced opposition from participating in public life.[8]
This article talks about a more personal story of a muslim woman who faced discrimination when she was going into labor. It is no surprise that, as another recent study shows, women of color can feel disempowered during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum care thanks to providers delivering health information in a leading way rather than allowing the patient's true informed consent in decision-making. [7]
The lasting affects of this discrimination:
An article written by Mehri Mohebbi, discusses how the discrimination Muslim women face has a lasting affect on their lives. To counter the negative impact of these experiences, it’s imperative that urban planners and city officials develop innovative ways to reach these marginalized groups, even as it may mean readjusting traditional ideas about methodology and length of the process. These experiences distorted their image of the society, resulted in voluntary social isolation, and decreased their level of access to social opportunities and urban services. [2]
Conclusion:
When a issue is found in society, we should always strive to find a working solution to help resolve the issue. As you have gone through the website, it can be seen that discrimination can take many forms and occur in almost any setting. It is important to acknowledge/bring awareness to the issue, as my page attempts to do. The next step would be to come up with solutions to help society move past this discrimination. Muslim women have been around for many generation and they are here to stay. To help absolve discrimination, society needs to come together and join hands with the minority groups and not alienate them. I believe we are capable of doing great things when we join hands.
