Muslim women negotiating their identity in the era of the Muslim ban

ABSTRACT

Muslim women experience gendered Islamophobia because their Muslim identity is often more visible and comes to symbolize their culture. Experiencing discrimination can cause stress and negative mental health outcomes. However, Muslim identity can also be a source of coping, and the Muslim community can be a source of support in the face of Islamophobia. We hypothesized that openness about identity within the Muslim community may differ based on gender and that experiences of discrimination would be associated with a desire to hide one’s Muslim identity in public for women but not for men. Seventy-three Muslim college students were recruited through snowball sampling in a cross-sectional survey in North America. Mean differences and correlational patterns were compared between women (n = 35) and men (n = 30). Correlational and regression analyses revealed that for women but not men, discrimination was correlated with hiding one’s Muslim identity in public. Microagressions and offence at Trump’s proposed travel ban were related to openness with other Muslims for women only. Women were more offended than men by Trump’s statement but only after President Trump took office. Intersectionality needs to be unpacked to better understand the multidimensional nature of gendered Islamophobia and racist policy actions.

KEYWORDS:

• Gendered Islamophobia
• Muslim women
• religious identity
• intersectionality
• travel ban

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Data was not reported for measures about approval of U.S. intervention abroad, support for the resettlement of Syrian refugees, U.S. identity, and university identity. See supplemental materials for the full survey, data set, and syntax for the analyses which are available at: osf.io/s7vz2.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rachel R. Steele

Rachel R. Steele is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Salisbury University, and she earned her Ph.D. in Social Psychology at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

Sakina Bengali

Sakina Bengali is an Account Director, Insight at Brunswick Group, and she earned her undergraduate degree in psychology and sociology at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

Gwynne Richardson

Gwynne Richardson has earned her Psychology degree from Salisbury University and is a candidate for a M.P.S. in Information Science from Cornell University.

Mackensie Disbennett

Mackensie Disbennett is a graduate student in Social Work at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and she earned her B.A. in Psychology and Social Work from Salisbury University.

Yasmeen Othman

Yasmeen Othman earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology and Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at Salisbury University.