(Muslim) Women’s Bodies, Islamophobia, and American Politics

Abstract

Taking Islamophobia as shorthand for a set of more complex phenomena in recent American politics this article offers an analysis of some of the ways in which Muslim women’s bodies have occupied center stage in discourses on Islam and Muslims in the United States. It focuses on representations of Muslim women as victims of their religion and the men in their communities on the one hand, and the discrimination and marginalization of the same Muslim women in public discourse and security policies on the other. Islamophobic discourses are also gendered through the particular contribution of women pundits and their claims to feminist authenticity. Recognizing the racist, xenophobic, and misogynist dimensions of Islamophobic discourses within a liberal framework makes it possible to go beyond decrying its premises and repercussions.