Shelina Janmohamed is an author and a culture columnist for The National
November 15, 2024
If you look around in western societies, but also in some others, the stereotype of the "oppressed Muslim woman" is unfortunately easy to find. We are seemingly oppressed by everything: clothes, brains, language, and most notably, we even oppress ourselves simply by daring to exist as Muslim women. The notion of oppressed Muslim women is one of the key pillars of Islamophobia – structural, as well as everyday and casual, anti-Muslim hatred.
This trope is deeply entrenched and hard to shift. I know this because I’ve been trying for 20 years and, sadly, I could write the same articles now that I used to decades ago. I could even publish the same memoir I wrote 15 years ago, Love in a Headscarf. But at least I can say that there is a public tussle over its prevalence and the methods to dismantle it. At least we talk about the trope.
What we don’t talk enough about is its partner-in-crime stereotype: the "violent Muslim man", or how to dismantle it. The two go hand in hand, the stereotypical violent Muslim man, and therefore, the oppressed Muslim woman.
This line of thinking is everywhere, communicated in both subtle and overt ways. And paradoxically – or perhaps deliberately – it’s being advanced to greater levels during November, which in the UK is Islamophobia Awareness Month. The paradox here is stark: while we aim to raise awareness about Islamophobia, the very stereotypes that perpetuate it are being amplified in mainstream media and political discourse.
The trope of the "violent Muslim man" – with its roots all the way back to the Middle Ages, the Crusades and then built on by colonial-era stereotypes of Muslims as "backwards" and driven by the sword – has evolved in modern times into a powerful tool for vilifying Muslims.
While we aim to raise awareness about Islamophobia, the very stereotypes that perpetuate it are being amplified in mainstream media and political discourse
Such stereotypes often surface in immigration debates, where Muslim immigrants are portrayed as violent infiltrators, or in high-profile cases of crime and conflict, where only Muslim perpetrators are highlighted. For example, incidents involving Muslim immigrants are disproportionately amplified in western media, painting entire communities as security threats.
Meanwhile, Muslim-majority countries facing conflict are often depicted as inherently violent societies, which reinforces the stereotype on a global scale and serves to justify exclusionary immigration policies and restrictive laws specifically targeting Muslims.
We saw this play out over the summer in the UK far-right riots, painting asylum-seekers, Muslims and refugees as inherent threats to justify violence against them (the irony!), as well as events in the Middle East and around the world dehumanising Muslim men.
An anti-immigration protest in London, on October 26. Reuters
Sadly, there are violent Muslim men, just like there are violent men everywhere. Male violence is a global problem, whether in South Korea, where women are leading the 4B movement to divest from men, or in the US, where the MeToo movement has exposed the prevalence of sexual violence, or even in the UK, where too many news headlines are about domestic violence. From the Taliban erasing women’s rights to the daily violence women face in domestic spaces, male violence shows up everywhere.
But this universal reality cannot and should not be pinned on one group of men, nor be framed as a Muslim-only phenomenon. And the irony is that quite often men criticising Muslim men for being violent have records of abuse and violence themselves.
One real-life version of this is lists I see suddenly popping up everywhere on social media of "terror attacks" exclusively by Muslims, but no reference to all the many and varied acts of war, domestic violence, persecution, murder and many more happening all over the world and by all types of people.
The "violent Muslim man" stereotype diverts attention away from the universality of male violence. By focusing on a singular, racialised and religiously motivated view of violence, we dilute the efforts needed to tackle this epidemic of violence on a broader scale. Because many living in the West have been conditioned to see Muslim men as the ultimate threat, the opportunity to address this issue in a consistent way is all too often completely missed.
It becomes harder to address the root causes of aggression and oppression that exist across cultures. The cycle perpetuates itself, making it even more difficult for society to work towards a world where all violent men are held accountable for their actions, and where no man is defined by the violence he is falsely presumed to carry within.
The "oppressed Muslim woman" stereotype can be addressed through proactive actions: we can speak up and we can demonstrate control over our own lives. But to dismantle the accusation of being violent requires being passive.
I can’t imagine the harm it does to the mental health of even the most law-abiding, peace-loving Muslim men. This is particularly so when there is a feeling of helplessness and a sense that they can never escape damaging stereotypes, regardless of their individual character.
If we are truly committed to dismantling Islamophobia, we must confront this head-on, while also acknowledging the universality of the problem of male violence. Only then can we begin to address these issues in a way that promotes justice, equality and safety for all.
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