New Book Points to Muslim Women as Shaping Islam in the West

March 14, 2006

Source: Georgetown University Office of Communications

http://explore.georgetown.edu/documents/index.cfm?Action=View&DocumentID=13459&Media=print

On March 14, 2006 the Georgetown University Office of Communications reported, "Contradicting traditional stereotypes of Muslim women as veiled and oppressed, Muslim Women in America: The Challenge of Islamic Identity Today (Oxford University Press, 2006), by Georgetown University Professor Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad and co-authors Jane I. Smith and Kathleen M. Moore, reveals Muslim women in America to be diverse and active in shaping the role of Muslims in the West... Haddad, Smith and Moore argue that Western imperial history, the entertainment industry and the government have helped reinforce negative stereotypes of Muslim women. The authors, rather, aim to show that Muslim women in America are 'members of American society who act in conformity neither with Western assumption nor, necessarily, with the dictates of Islamic traditionalism.' The authors give a brief overview of Muslim women in America, looking first at trends in the history of Muslim immigration to the United States and then taking a closer look at issues such as Islamic dress, marriage, childrearing, conversion to Islam and varying degrees of Muslim participation in modern American society."