There is no doubt that women in certain regions of the world face terrible odds compared to their male counterparts. I know that I am very lucky to live in a country where I as a female can have access to education and many other rights.
However, people love to use the oppression of women in Islamic countries to hate Islam as a whole, and perpetuate the idea that everyone should hate Islam too.
Recently, I watched a CNN special called Unwelcome: The Muslims Next Door. The special focuses on conflict that arises in a small Tennessee town over the proposed building of an Islamic community center and mosque. No surprise, the oppression of women is used as an excuse to lead a force against the Muslims in this town. To see the part in which I am talking about, skip to 31:25 in the video.
I have seen this as well in the news media, which has really never been kind on reporting on Islams or Muslims in general. However, oppression of women is constantly used to perpetuate fear of a religion and Sharia law.
What is Sharia Law? It is a system of laws that govern civil and criminal law based on the Quran, according to duhaime.org Legal Dictionary.
Take this Hannity panel on Fox News. On this panel, five men debate on whether or not Islam is truly a religion of peace. Eventually, Hannity mentions the oppression and abuse of women in countries under Sharia Law, saying that Christians have never interpreted the Bible so literally as to kill and abuse women and gays.
To view it click here.
Eventually, Hannity asks "Is Sharia often used to oppress women and minorities?" One member of the panel comes back that it depends on the place and interpretation, which is also what the expert in the CNN special I mentioned above says as well. Some Sharia Law is interpreted as progressive towards woman, others are not. It is interpreted differently depending on where you are at.
I guess my problem with the news media is they love to throw around "Islam" and "Muslims" like everyone under this group is the same. Islam is one of the big three religions with millions of followers around the world. Literally anyone can follow Islam.
Researchers Omi and Winant coined the term Respectable Racism when referring to Arabs and Muslims on T.V, and found certain themes are associated with this group on T.V. One of these themes is an "Us. versus Them" narrative, which is often present in news media. Often, it is Americans versus Islam or Muslims. The term Muslim is also conflated to fit this narrative, though as I mentioned before anyone can be Muslim.
Do women in the certain areas of the Middle East face oppression? Of course. In Saudi Arabia, women cannot drive or leave their houses without male supervision. However, that is Saudi Arabia, one country among many that have large Muslim populations. That doesn't mean we should use that as an excuse to hate a religion.
Not all Muslim women are oppressed, and Sharia Law is different for everyone in different places. Women historically and now face terrible odds all over the world under many religions, not just Islam. Instead of looking at it as a religious issue, we should look at it as a human rights and gender equality issue.
The point is every religion has its extremists that take holy books too seriously.It's when we get the idea to put every person that belongs to that religion under one umbrella, and attach a stereotype to them, that it becomes problematic.
I found this video interesting as well. In it, a Muslim community leader replies to a Bill O' Reilly segment on the issue. In it, the community leader explains passages from the Quran and how every religion has its extremists when it comes to women.
Take a look:
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