Media Portrayals of Religion: Islam

Media Portrayals of Religion: Islam 

http://mediasmarts.ca/diversity-media/religion/media-portrayals-religion-islam

Muslims are portrayed either negatively or positively by the media. Media coverage of Muslims has shifted dramatically since 9/11. Not only did coverage increase, but the way Islam was framed also shifted. There are two main ways of presenting Muslims in media; either as radical Islamists who are fighting against the West and are extremely violent, or the way women are portrayed, as weak and dependent on men.

"The most prevalent Islamic stereotype is the radical Muslim insurgent, bent on waging jihad, or holy war, against the West. This stereotype usually represents violence as an inseparable part of being Muslim, as well as religion as justification for violent actions."

"Another Islamic media stereotype involves portrayals of Muslim women. Western Muslim women are often presented either as passive victims of male power imposed upon them, or as strong feminists who oppose this power by fighting it from a disadvantaged position."

"While only a minority of children have been found to hold prejudiced or racist views regarding Islam, a majority perceive Muslims to be foreign and alien, fuelling the notion that Islam is a threat to Western culture and that Muslims are different from what members of Western society ‘should’ be." 

The argument provided in this article is important because the growing Islamophobia (fear or hatred of Islam) in the US. After the terror attacks against the US in 2001, media coverage of Muslims changed drastically. Since then, Muslims have been portrayed as aggressive and violent. For example, in the show "Lost", Sayid Jarrah is one of the main characters, and in the show he ends up using torture and aggression to interrogate people on the island. I think that while the show tried to make him a "good" character, he still turned to torture, further developing his character as an aggressive Muslim man.