When a chauvinistic orange-haired dud is propagating fear of Muslims and running for President, or when the world is obsessed with what Muslim women wear instead of letting them make that choice themselves, or when years of misrepresentation in Western media culminate to fuel a sad image of Muslim women, it’s time to worry.

If you’ve ever been annoyed by a stereotype about ‘your kind,’ think of how Muslim women have received the short end of the stick – two times over.

Our opinions of the world are largely shaped by what we see and read in the media, but when reporting is skewed and media fails us, can we fix our world view?

Take this, for example:

A study as recent as 2015 shows that after 9/11 and past the growth of ISIS, Islam has been treated differently than other religions by American, British and German media outlets, and rarely, if ever, shown in a positive light, with mainstream Muslims not represented.

Add to that the sexist expectations that still persist in society about women’s roles.

A recent study shows that Muslim women are portrayed in the news as religiously oppressed, victimized by a patriarchal society, and in desperate need of saving. Their individual and colorful voices, strong opinions, jobs, passions and fears are compacted into a convenient package that’s easy to swallow.

You are told that what you wear is more important than who you are – burqa or not. Forget your political, professional or personal laurels.

 

Imagine growing up in a world as a woman, where the media and people whose expectations are shaped by the media, build a block you keep running into.

People rarely speak to you to form an opinion. They simply assume things about you.

In the face of these downright ridiculous assumptions, common sense can reign.

In a rational and entertaining act of defiance, Mina Liccione, Co-Founder of Dubomedy Arts and Clowns Who Care & Theater Professor, with Dubomedy, decided it was time to do something sensible: Talk to Muslim women instead of talk about them.

The result is a light-hearted and honest look at what Muslim women are really like – SO NORMAL:

Shocking, isn’t it?

Vote against the orange dud, for the sake of humanity.

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