ABSTRACT

In recent years, the status of the Muslim woman – often coded in the image of a veiled female figure – has become a major preoccupation of the mainstream media in the West, where it is framed as an issue of “Islam and gender.” Regardless of whether the tone of the commentary is critical or sympathetic, the organizing logic is the same – that something called “Islam” exists and that it can explain all aspects of Muslim society. Note that the terms – “Islam,” “Muslim society,” “Muslim culture,” etc. – circulating in this discourse are all in the singular, implying that there is one essential, monolithic thing called “Islam” which remains consistent across time and space, and that all Muslims are somehow essentially identical regardless of where they may come from geographically and culturally. The overwhelming conclusion of this discourse is that there is something uniquely sexist – even misogynist – about Islam, “the Muslim world,” and thereby all Muslims, which in turn explains the low status of Muslim women.