Muslim Women In The Media

History proves that women have been considered inferior to men, since the time of Adam and Eve. Chapter two in Genesis states that Eve was made out of Adam’s ribs, hence, women are derivatives and secondary ontologically. Various religions consider women to be created for men, causing the oppression of women and their rights. Women have come a long way since a time when they were solely responsible for household and did not have an opinion in anything. But have women really received all of their rights? Maybe women in West are enjoying more freedom and are advancing than women in East, but has a lot of thing not changed since the biblical times? While women throughout the world are flourishing in politics, science, business, etc, feminists

Women's inferiority to man in Islam is blatantly misunderstood. A Muslim woman is by depicted as helpless and hijab is the symbol of oppression which she is forced to wear. Women who veil have sometimes gained the sympathy of many non-Muslims. In media, Muslim women are consistently shown as submissive, fully covered and always wearing hijabs. For example,in the movie, Body of Lies (2008), Muslim women can be seen in the background wearing hijabs and burqas, each accompanied by a male since women are prohibited from walking the streets alone. The Muslim women are portrayed as passive and always needing the protection of a man when in public. Even educated, working woman are shown wearing hijab. Throughout the movie, muslim women from different countries are shown wearing different types of hijab; some colorful, some plain and some covering all their bodies. But what does wearing a hijab mean to the muslim women who wear it? Does wearing a hijab really mean they are surrendering to men?

The principles of Islam are the same in every country but the culture of the Muslim religion and the cohesion of wearing a hijab varies from one country to another. In the Arab nations, women are overshadowed by male society and may have to cover up due to compulsion of their predominant men whereas, in the United States, it is freedom of choice and not coercion which expresses their religiosity,

Instead of doing any good, muslim feminists fuel controversy, anger and resentment towards Muslims, promoting Islamophobia. Islam is condemned for not giving women their rights, but in the past it was blamed for a totally opposite reason. During the medieval period, women in Europe were denied many basic human rights such as rights to inheritance, ownership, equal pay, engagement in public life and to initiating divorce. However, Muslim women have enjoyed these rights from the seventh century. In Britain, women did not have the right of equal pay to equal work until the enactment of the Equal Pay Act of 1970. In the other hand, the Qur’ān declares: “Men shall have the benefit of what they earn and women shall have the benefit of what they earn” (4:32). In Hinduism, only sons used to inherit wealth after the death of the father, while Quran believed: “From what is left by parents and by those nearest related there is a share for men and a share for women”