Visible Religion: Coverage of Religious Women in Ohio

US Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad poses next to a mannequin displaying the hijab she wore during competition

Module 1: Muslim Women's Dress and Imagery

Summary:

Media coverage of Muslim women often focuses on controversies around their religious dress, particularly in schools and sports.

Resources:

Readings:

Discussion Questions:

  • One of the rights guaranteed by the Constitution is freedom of religion. What do you think about Muslim dress in relation to the rights of practicing their religion?
  • Should institutions have the right to control religious dress? Specifically, from the readings: Should the police academy be able to keep Muslim women out for their dress? Can or should schools be able to control students' religious dress?
  • Why do you think the media covers Muslim dress? Do you see any differences in how we see Christian women or women of other religions covered in the media?
  • Why do you think Muslim dress has become such a common topic of discussion in the country? How do you think it affects people's connection to their faith in the US?
  • Do you think it is fair for sports organizations to make a general rule regarding what athletes can and can't wear? Is this okay because it applies to everyone, or is it violating freedom of religion?

Homework:

  • Using Google, look up Muslim women. Save some of the images. What themes do you see?
  • Write a paragraph about how you feel Islamic women are shown to dress. Do you think this is a fair representation, considering that not every Islamic woman dresses this way?
  • Look up stories about religious dress controversies in sports. Write a paragraph about common themes you see in the stories. What religions do you see represented?

Module 2: Islam as an "Oppressive" Religion

Summary:

Muslim women are often portrayed as "oppressed" by Islam. The media often shows how they are victims or have "overcome" this oppression in some way.

Resources:

Readings:

Discussion Questions:

  • Why do we stereotype Muslim women as being "oppressed"?
  • Why is Muslim dress sometimes associated with the oppression of women?
  • What do you think these stories suggest about Muslim women? Is this coverage similar to Christian women in America?

Homework:

  • Do some quick research on the coverage of Muslims. Does this seem to only be a problem for the women of this religion? How do men compare in their representation by the media?
  • Write a brief summary of how the media speaks about the oppression of Muslim women. Do most of these stories include actual stories from the women themselves, or does it appear to be more opinionated on the media's side?

Module 3: Lack of Coverage

Summary:

Muslim and Buddhist women are undercovered in the media, especially compared to Christian women, and they are covered in very different ways. Muslim women are seen as oppressed, Buddhists are seen as nice, and Christian women are portrayed as empowered.

Resources:

Readings:

Discussion Questions:

  • Despite having "freedom of religion" in the United States, how might the coverage of Muslim women contradict this idea?
  • What does the lack of coverage suggest about how the media views religious women?
  • America is often described as a "melting pot" for various cultures. How do you think this relates to religious women?
  • How do you see religions represented in politics? How are they portrayed? Are there certain religions that receive more coverage than others?

Homework:

  • Look up religious new stories in the local communities, and write a paragraph summarizing what you found. What religions were covered? Who were the stories about?
  • Look up stories about Buddhist women, Muslim women, and Christian women. Take notes about what you find for each religion. How are the women portrayed? How many stories did you find?
  • Look at the politics section of a major news outlet, and find a story related to religion. Write a paragraph about what the story was about, what religion was discussed, and how it was portrayed. How does this connect to the readings?
Photo credit

DIG14364-159 by Flickr user LBJ Library, public domain; cropped from original.