sempozyum_bildiri_kitabi

I said to myself it cannot be ‐my cousin who just came from her country she got hired
easily. She is an immigrant‐ she cannot speak English. Just because she does not wear the
hijab and I was born here and just because of my hijab I am not getting hired. So let me
just try without the hijab, let me just take of the hijab and look for a job. So I took it off
and every job would tell me what day to come back to set up the schedule.
Zainab’s experience is interesting, because she tested how employers would see her with and
without hijab. The experience she had at interviews with hijab eventually lead her to believe that
wearing hijab is going to prevent her from obtaining a job.
Discrimination towards Muslim women is not always associated with hijab. Discrimination is
complicated when it comes to Muslim women. In this part of my work I like to draw attention to
research done by Patricia Hill Collins and her research on the multiple layers of oppression. Collins
coins the term “matrix of domination” where she analyzes how sex, religion, ethnicity, age, and
sexual orientation are all part of ones experiences. 4 Therefore the intersecting identities that many
of the women hold, are important factors in how they are treated. For muhajibhs who come from
different cultural backgrounds, experiences become part of an “interlocking system of oppression.” 5
The interviewees articulated this concept. According to Ayesha,
Sometimes when people say things to me I think are they saying this because “I am an
oppressed Muslim woman.” Even though I should not think that way and I should not
blame it on hijab or the fact I am Muslim but I can not help it, because I do not know how
much of the hijab or Muslim or brown for that matter is affecting them or their impression
of me. So if someone is mean to me I think, “are they saying this because I am oppressed
and think I can not answer back? Many times people talk to me and are shocked I do not
have an accent. “You have no accent oh my God where you from” I am like “you do not,
where are you from?” You get to the point where you are defensive. It’s the stereotypes.
Ayesha was very much aware that stereotypes are associated with Muslim women. She expresses
an understanding that others may misjudge her based on her looks. Even though this upsets her, she
feels that she needs to defend herself in order to challenge others biases.
The issue with self‐perception was evident in the interviews. When I asked, “How do you
identify?” Interestingly most of the women were not confident in their answers. For instance, even
though Layla was born and raised in the U.S.A., she answered, “I would say Muslim American. I do
not know? Yeah. Because I feel my Muslim identity comes before my American identity and I also
feel there is something about feeling like Americans do not accept us as Americans.” It appears that
part of the reason Layla did not offer a direct answer was because of others not accepting her as
American. This is an identity concern because, while Layla might feel that she can balance her
Muslim and American identities, she also fears others’ reaction towards her. Even though I asked
Layla how she identified herself she illustrated how others saw her. According to Killian, “Identity
theory highlights the stress people feel when comments or behavior by others does not match their
self‐conceptions.” 6 The problem is that women feel that they do not fit into the society to in which
they have assimilated or grown up in. Feeling “un‐American” was a common response by many of
the participants. Although many of the women are native born or have lived a majority of their lives
in the U.S.A., they indicated their lack of feeling American because of social pressures. For instance
Mona also answers the question, “Everyone asks me Pakistani, Indian, Saudi, are you American? I
just say I am a Muslim. Caucasian Americans look at me and say, “She is not American.” The
stigmatization of Muslims in America results in their dissociations with American identity. They
indicate that due to Islam or specifically hijab being seen as un‐American, they find it difficult to
identify as American. Many of the women, they try to piece together different pieces of their
identity. They attempt to bring their Muslim and American identity together.
Self‐perceptions, not only affects how the women identified but also how they constantly felt
required to represent Islam in a positive manner. Hence, the women attempt to deconstruct the