ABSTRACT
To be constructed as morally virtuous, innocent, and unmarked by criminal and sexual deviance within a genealogy of American traditions bound to slavery involves an ability to approximate bourgeois whiteness. In this chapter, I discuss the relationship between evil, femininity, and terror that circulates within the global “war on terror” with a focus on the genealogical origins, political mobilizations, and popular culture commodification of the female “terrorist.” Framing this discussion within a post-9/11 landscape of race, racism, and racialization that shapes perceptions of evil, I focus on representations of brown femininity within the global “war on terror,” specifically the self-stylized images of terror created by Parisian street artist Princess Hjab and United Kingdom-based musician and artist M.I.A.
