Stereotypes are difficult to avoid, however, Dr. Ingrid Mattson cleared up false stereotypes of Muslim women in a lecture given to an audience of approximately 150 students, faculty and community members in the Dolan School of Business dining room last Wednesday.
Mattson is a professor of Islamic Studies and director of Islamic Chaplaincy at the Hartford seminary as well as the current president of one of the largest Muslim societies in North America. In 2006, she became the first woman, the first convert and the first non-immigrant to become the president of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA).
Mattson’s speech focused on clearing up common misconceptions about Muslim women and finding out why stereotypes continue to exist.
Mattson made five main points:
1. Exotic Sensuality: This stereotype has mainly been reinforced through various entertainment venues. For years, Muslim women have been portrayed as sexual and exotic throughout different forms of entertainment, namely books, movies and television shows, such as “I Dream of Genie.”
2. Oppressed Status: While this may be true in some parts of the world, it is in no way intrinsic to Islam. In the United States, Mattson said this tradition is coming to an end and other countries in the near future.
3. Perceived Deceptiveness: Mattson said part of this is an offshoot of the general mistrust of veils in our society and that when Americans see a veiled woman, they think that she is trying to hide something such as old-Western bandits trying to cover their faces. In non-western cultures, however, veiling is often seen as a sign of respect and status.
4. Viewed as Terrorists: According to Mattson, the media portrays Muslim as caricatures when a tragedy has occurred, instead of the reality of Muslim life. Another problem is that many of the people who criticize Islam, regardless of their credentials, have been rewarded in recent years with high posts at universities and other organizations.
5. Apolitical: This goes hand in hand with an oppressed status, but according to Mattson recent studies have found that even in ancient times, some of the more prominent women were indeed involved as judges and held various other political positions. This exclusion in some areas is more recent, although it claims to be rooted in tradition.
The audience was informed of the stereotypes Mattson pointed out.
“I was totally amazed about the richness of culture Muslim women enjoy,” said audience member Marie Rose. “It is an entirely new concept for me and makes me wonder what has happened with the repression and everything.”
For others, however, it was more of a refresher course.
“I thought it was pretty interesting,” said Maya Sarin ’07. “I knew a lot of it coming from an Indian background, but it was interesting to hear what she had to add to it.”
Leave a Reply