Abdelhadi, Eman. “Religiosity and Muslim Women’s Employment in the United States.” Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World, vol. 3, 2017.
This article is devoted to studying statistics that link various areas of the lives of Muslim women and their employment in America. The author researched several different sources to show how the lives of Muslim women affect their careers. Thus, this article contains information about a particular area of these women’s lives: their jobs. As it turned out, their religion can have a positive effect on employment. For example, going to a mosque is one factor that increases the likelihood of having a job. This is likely due to employers trusting consistent and honest people.
The author also found that neither education, nor the presence of children, nor ethnic group have a significant impact on employment. They can contribute to a positive attitude of the employer and people of other religions. For instance, if a person has a good education, they will be hired regardless of cultural background. These facts represent Muslim women as quite successful and, most importantly, full-fledged members of American society. These statistics give hope for the early elimination of discrimination and respect for Muslim women on the part of employers and others. This article can be useful for my research as an example of a positive trend related to Muslim women. Although there are some issues, they still have an opportunity to work and gain success in life.
Fadel, Leila. “How Muslims, Often Misunderstood, Are Thriving in America.” National Geographic, 2018.
This article is an example of a comprehensive description of Muslim culture. The author writes about different aspects of Muslim life, allowing readers to understand them better and eliminate stereotypes. Muslim women are presented in this article as quite strong and independent. Each of them has an individual set of personal characteristics and is a full-fledged member of society. They are not afraid to prove themselves and use all the country’s opportunities in which they live.
The author gives compelling examples of how Muslims thrive in America. For instance, they are actively developing businesses in various areas related to Islam, particularly tailoring. This allows Muslim women to dress beautifully and expensively, despite stereotypes of modesty and simplicity in their clothes. Muslim women also actively advocate for their rights, for example, participating in the anti-bullying skit at a public library. This characterizes them as active and strong women who take care of themselves and defend their rights. This article allows me to fill my research with more deep psychological details related to Muslim women, understanding their characters from the inside.
Lalami, Laila. “I’m a Muslim and Arab American. Will I Ever Be an Equal Citizen?” The New York Times, 2020.
This article is the story of a woman who has lived in America for many years. About thirty years ago, she moved from Morocco, hoping to build a prosperous life in this large country. However, even after such a long time, she still feels pressure from others. Undoubtedly, this affects her perception of the world: she feels constant hostility, which presses on her. This destroys the trust she was trying to build between the two alien cultures. As a result, her life is filled with conflict, and she is unable to enjoy life in a prosperous country fully.
The image of a Muslim woman in this article is a strong woman, not understood by society. She has a set of exciting and significant personal qualities, but others are not ready to see them behind their stereotypes. Even after thirty years of living in America, she still hears questions about when she will return home. Thus, America has not become her full-fledged home over the years because its “masters” cannot accept it. This underlines the tragic fate of Muslim women in America. Society is not yet tuned in to interact with them, which leads to constant conflicts. Without solving this problem, People will continue to regularly face each other, only aggravating issues between them. Stereotypes will persist, and Muslim women will regularly feel pressured. This article would be useful for my research as an example of difficulties that Muslim women face daily and that should be eradicated.
Mogahed, Dalia. “American Muslim Women Don’t Need You to Save Them from Islam. They Need Your Respect.” USA Today, 2018.
This article shows how a Muslim woman sees the country she lives in from the inside. The author is Muslim and wants to share her culture, religion, and nationality issues with America. She claims that many people are trying to help Muslim women, “save” them from Islam. In fact, they do not want this since their primary need in a “foreign” society is not help but respect. They want the people around them to consider them complete and to perceive as equals. Unfortunately, many people are not ready for this – they have too many persistent prejudices about Muslims and their attitudes towards women. This often leads to conflicts and misunderstandings.
The author talks about Islamophobia and American stereotypes about Muslims. She cites an interesting statistic: most Americans have outdated ideas about the role of Muslim women. Common biases about them thrive, interfering with the productive interaction of representatives of different cultures. Thus, the author of this article shows Islamic women from a different angle. She details their real aspirations, life goals, and world views. This is how Muslim women appear to be independent and firm but not understood by society. In this article, there are multiple details about Muslim culture and life perception. It is crucial to know these facts to write research on this topic, so this article is also crucial for my research.
Terman, Rochelle. “Islamophobia and Media Portrayals of Muslim Women: A Computational Text Analysis of US News Coverage.” International Studies Quarterly, vol. 61, no. 3, 2017, pp. 489–502.
This article is a quantitative study of American magazines that publish articles on Muslim women. The author researched texts about Muslim and non-Muslim women, comparing their representation in the media. The result of the study is a clear contrast between the descriptions of these two groups of women. In contrast to non-Muslim women, journalists are more likely to write about rights violations and gender inequality when it comes to Muslim women. By doing this, they shift the focus of readers’ attention from the real picture: gender inequality can be found everywhere, and it is necessary to fight it worldwide. However, such a distribution of attention leads to an increase in stereotypes without showing the real state of affairs.
Another exciting feature highlighted in this article is that the authors usually portray Muslims as sexist people. They claim that Muslims oppress women, do not give them rights, and entirely subjugate them. This also leads to misrepresentation of Muslim women: they appear as helpless and subservient to men. However, in reality, they have the rights and are strong enough to live a fulfilling life. Undoubtedly, their culture has numerous characteristics that make it impossible to look at the state of affairs from the inside. However, the media’s image is wrong, creating stereotypes and negative thoughts about this culture. In my research, this article can help me show that people perceive women of different cultures wrongly which leads to stereotypes. Thus, it is crucial to save equality and treat people with respect.
Works Cited
Abdelhadi, Eman. “Religiosity and Muslim Women’s Employment in the United States.”Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World, vol. 3, 2017.
Fadel, Leila. “How Muslims, Often Misunderstood, Are Thriving in America.” National Geographic, 2018.
Lalami, Laila. “I’m a Muslim and Arab American. Will I Ever Be an Equal Citizen?”The New York Times, 2020.
Mogahed, Dalia. “American Muslim Women Don’t Need You to Save Them from Islam. They Need Your Respect.”USA Today, 2018.
Terman, Rochelle. “Islamophobia and Media Portrayals of Muslim Women: A Computational Text Analysis of US News Coverage.” International Studies Quarterly, vol. 61, no. 3, 2017, pp. 489–502.