Every topic studied, including Islamophobia, is inherently gendered.

Evidence

The concerns expressed in the quote above are substantial and they need to be considered for a fuller and more nuanced discussion of the issue of Islamophobia in America and beyond. Gender as a category of analysis should be but is often not (yet) an integral part of scholarly inquiry into many topics, among them the study of Islam, Muslims, and, as in this volume, Islamophobia. It should require no justification or explanation to state that everything we study and encounter is in fact gendered: marked by constructed categories of gender; socially and historically constructed and negotiated gender roles; and gendered positionality of researchers, journalists, and writers. — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 476

Categorization

• DEFINE: Establishes the chapter’s definitional anchor: gender as a category of analysis and what ‘gendered’ means for research.