Media linked Muslim converts’ violence to failed heterosexuality rather than political motives

Evidence

In their explanations to the public for the criminal involvements of Lindh and Padilla, the media has made one thing explicit: both are converts to Islam. The media has focused on and sensationalized the stories of these two men, constructing a narrative that links violence, criminality, terrorism, and a delusional mental state to Islam; and more specifically, violence committed by Muslim converts is explained through an interlinked narrative of failed heterosexuality. Lindh and Padilla are not necessarily portrayed as homosexual; rather, their trajectory into terrorism is linked to failed heterosexual masculinity. And this supports the larger narrative that the causes of terrorism stem from sexual, as opposed to political, reasons. — Evelyn Alsultany, Arabs and Muslims in the Media, 1095

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to research on terrorism narratives and the depoliticization of violence — why media frames terrorism through individual psychopathology and sexuality rather than political causes. Also ties to Edward Said’s work on Orientalism and the pathologizing of Muslim masculinity.
• SEED: Angle: a media-analysis essay on how ‘conversion to Islam’ functions as a racialized origin story in post-9/11 journalism, where converts must be explained as sexually broken.