“She didn’t mean it that way”: theorizing gendered Islamophobia in academia

Abstract

ABSTRACT Islamophobia and anti-Muslim racism pose a unique experience, especially when one is readily identifiable as a Muslim through hijab, a head covering worn by some Muslim women. Although frequently conflated with racial identity, Muslim women are uniquely impacted by the intersection of race, gender, and religious identity. In this paper, I explore the intersection of race, gender, and religious identity in higher education through critical autoethnography. Utilizing the lenses of postcolonial feminism and critical whiteness studies, I examine my lived experiences as a visibly Muslim and racialized woman teaching at a predominantly white institution in Southern Ontario. Through this exploration, I discuss a pattern of racism and Islamophobia in the academy, and how the inadequacy of addressing incidents reinforces and reproduces racism and Islamophobia.