Media categories meant to make Muslim women visible actually silence them

Evidence

Stories about the oppressed Muslim woman come to represent Islam and to explain why 9/11 happened and why the United States went to war in Afghanistan and Iraq. These stories have the impact of not only defining conversations about Islam/terrorism but also confining the conversation to these stories, what Amira Jarmakani terms “the politics of invisibility.” She argues that the very categories that purport to give Arab and Muslim women visibility, such as the veil, actually render their experiences and their speech invisible because Arab and Muslim feminists are faced with continually responding to these categories rather than defining their own agendas. — Evelyn Alsultany, Arabs and Muslims in the Media, 584

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines Jarmakani’s ‘politics of invisibility’ — categories that claim to give visibility actually suppress those they represent.
• XREF: Connects to Said’s orientalism and to the reader’s ongoing interest in representation and silencing of voice. — connects to: Muslim women veil for varied personal-political reasons silenced by rescue discourse