The Media and its Representation of Islam and Muslim Women Term Paper

The Media and its Representation of Islam and Muslim Women - Term Paper Example in Munro). Anti-Muslim movement or sentiment in western media in general and American media in particular is an inevitable repercussion of Soviet disintegration. After utilizing Soviet Union as scapegoat for decades, westerners seeking for a new enemy soon found fundamentalist or most frequently used as synonymous to Muslims through their media. This scenario led to the anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racist attitude which is continuously reinforced in the minds of general public in west. Media imagery, western ethnocentrism, and American geographic isolation added to American insularity. Moreover, World Trade Centre bombings stamped on the fears and self righteousness of western mind. It led to racial hatred, violence against Muslims, vandalizing mosques, and targeting Muslim businesses. Media contributed profoundly in negative representation of Islam and Muslims. Muslims laws and customs are always not only reported out of context but constantly reinforced through images and text in news papers, television, and films. Arabs are portrayed as terrorists in particular while Muslims are represented to be fundamentalists (Goren). Media shapes and reshapes the cultural identities and perspectives in people’s mind. Shaheen refers Hollywood as an effective teacher for young minds who are taught from 1896 that Muslims are Arabs and they are insensitive, brutal, fanatics, uncivilized, and greedy. They are only involved in killing and oppressing weak in their society and civilized foreigners (2).Islam is generally perceived as a Middle East phenomenon while Pakistan is also considered in for good measures. However, this is not recent trend because similar negative interpretations and representations tainted media reports about Iran and Lebanon in past as well (Goren). When esteemed international news magazine, such as Newsweek’s reporting a cover story on the rise of â€Å"militant Islam† without noticing other dimensions of the faith under-discussion, it registers as a persistent image in viewer and readers. It is highly unlikely to find articles and reports in mainstream media on Islamic art, poetry, philosophy, or architecture. There is little or no acknowledgment of the diversity of Muslim culture all over the world. Muslims may have their roots in Middle East, Bosnian Muslims are white, Indonesian and Malaysians are Orientals, and Senegalese and Sudanese or Africans are blacks. Initially, â€Å"Muslim fundamentalist† were either â€Å"Shiite† geographically residing in Iran, Lebanon, or Pakistan with some exceptions in other areas. Today the fear is beyond boundaries, it belongs to religion. A Pakistani news paper â€Å"The News† observes in its editorial that western media counters Islam in a terrified, unaware, and aggressive manner. Rather than representing Islam in derogatory manner, they should dig in-depth and try to understand the diverse history and tradition which will give them the opportunity to l earn and appreciate countless positive aspects of Islam and Muslim culture (qtd. in Goren). Ahmed explains the role of western media in prevailing and upholding negative image of Islam and attributes it as, â€Å"The evil demon: the media as master† (qtd. in Bennett 9).Edward Said also explore this media discrimination extensively in his book