Stereotypes & Biases
Many resources and groups have formed stereotypes about Muslim immigrant women, including families, communities, books and media. Stereotypes of “backward” or “oppressed Muslim women” have existed for centuries as part of Orientalist discourses about the Middle East (Said, 1978). These stereotypes of the “oppressed Muslim woman” position her as a victim who needs the help of others. Other stereotypes about Muslim women include descriptions of them as submissive and passive, and as having very little power over their lives (Said, 1978). They are often perceived as passive, which can increase their chances of being assaulted, as it makes them an easy target to attack or suppress (Razack, 2011). Muslim women with their hijab are also seen as more threatening than Muslim men, as it is harder to conceal or be mistaken about their Muslim identity (Chakraborti & Zempi, 2012).
Stereotypes are constructed within unequal power relations. They are the result of marginalization by the people in power who define the marginalized group. By speaking for them and defining them, they deprive people of their individuality and identity. By stereotyping them, those in the dominant culture other the marginalized group (Pickering, 2001). Moreover, regardless of their place of origin, all Hijabi Muslim women are portrayed as part of a homogenized and oppressed group. The hijab is often associated with backwardness and submission to Muslim men (Said, 1978). Such assumptions and stereotypes of a barbaric and backward Islam feed Islamophobia. These stereotypes have led to barriers, including microaggressions, that Muslim immigrant women then have to face in Canada.
Examples
I was sitting in the staff room, and a teacher decided to come up to me and said oh excuse me honey, parents are not supposed to be in here. I told her that I am a teacher and she rolled her eyes.
I have two best friends from university times. Just two. And both of them thought that I was a really bad person. Before they knew me. They both thought that I was snobby and weird because of my hijab.
Coming to Canada as an immigrant child and my experiences were mostly negative unfortunately. I didn’t feel welcomed at school. I felt almost bullied and targeted by a lot of my teachers. I think those experiences really did push me to become a better teacher than what I had experienced. As a child I was diagnosed with ADHD. And so my teachers in grades four, five, six, and seven really just had a hard time dealing with me because I was very hyperactive child. The teachers always labeled the kid that couldn’t sit down, back then, as a bad kid right, a kid that just can’t pay attention. I was bright but I couldn’t keep my attention for too long. One teacher actually in a teacher parent teacher interview told my dad that your daughter is never going to get into university
The participants of this study agreed that as Muslims with hijab, they are mostly perceived and stereotyped negatively. Some examples of how these participants felt
stereotyped by other include:
- somebody called them an extremist
- Someone called thema a bomber by students in her school
- someone treating them as uneducated and assuming not able to speak English
at a hospital by the nurse
- not knowledgeable and not able to speak English correctly at her work place by
a parent
- not being competent in her work by the secretary at school
- not able to speak English when she was the interpreter by a lawyer