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Securitizing the Muslim Female: Islamophobia and the Hidden Terrorist

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Islamophobia and Securitization

Part of the book series: Palgrave Politics of Identity and Citizenship Series ((CAL))

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Abstract

The chapter focuses on the securitization of the Muslim female and its link to Islamophobia. In examining how the Muslim female identity oscillates between the oppressed victim and the hidden radical, the chapter begins with a discussion of media accounts of Muslim women and the emergence of individuals such as Samina Malik—the ‘lyrical terrorist’, Roshonara Chaudhry and the more recent ‘jihadi brides’. These women lend credence to the belief that Muslim women, just as Muslim men, can be a potential threat, oxymoronically hiding in plain sight. Within this backdrop, the chapter explores participant narratives about their Muslim female identity, focusing on both veiled and non-veiled Muslim participants who are caught within external categories of the moderate/extremist that influence their everyday lives.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The murder of Shafilea Ahmed in 2012 by her parents in the name of ‘honour’ is one example of a recently reported crime of honour (The Huffington Post 2012a).

  2. 2.

    The theory shows how interactions with ‘outgroups’ may reduce the level of ‘negative […] attitudes’ towards those groups. Their study demonstrated how greater contact with Muslims who make up the outer group plays a positive role in reducing Islamophobia in society (Dekker and Noll 2012: 113, 119–123).

  3. 3.

    Monitoring of such suspicious individuals may include accessing personal correspondence on ‘instant messaging apps’. Failure on the part of app companies to share data with security agencies may result in the company being banned (see Curtis 2015).

  4. 4.

    See also Brown and Saeed (2015: 1955–1956).

  5. 5.

    A shalwar kameez consists of trousers and a tunic (Vakulenko 2007: 721).

  6. 6.

    See also Brown and Saeed (2015: 1958–1959).

  7. 7.

    See also Brown and Saeed (2015: 1955–1956).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan

    Tania Saeed

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Saeed, T. (2016). Securitizing the Muslim Female: Islamophobia and the Hidden Terrorist. In: Islamophobia and Securitization . Palgrave Politics of Identity and Citizenship Series. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32680-1_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32680-1_3

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