Social Categorization: Veiled Threats

Great Essays
Nichole Gonzalez
March 7, 2018
Eng 116
Griffing
Social categorization
Ever since ancient times, the idea of categorizing and labeling has been present in human history. Whether it be categorizing the fittest of early dawn of the human era to the current social labels, the notion of categorization has been ingrained in humans; and it has brought humanity to its peaks of inhumanity. Much in the sense of stereotypes, grouping people and labeling them a certain label is used to validate ourselves. What is one’s intention for wearing a veil? Is wearing a veil a threat? In this essay two articles that talk about Muslim veiling will be evaluated by looking at persuasion techniques, intended audience, and how successful they were with their articles.
…show more content…
The main key of persuasion that was use was logos. Using facts and data to support her position. Nussbaum mentions many incidents where women who wear the Burqa are judged and mistreated for their way of clothing. Using historical figures such as George Washington as a supportive element was a critical part of her article. She also compares what many women in our communities come to do to meet the definition of beauty portrayed by men while calling the burqa an active of objectification by men in the Muslim communities; which is ironic. The core strength of argument was not a single point that was made; rather, it was the way she compared the arguments put against the burqa to existing cases that were similar. For example, she says “A fourth argument holds that women wear the burqa only because they are coerced. This is a rather implausible argument to make across the board, do the arguers really believe that domestic violence is a peculiarly Muslim problem? 52 percent of surveyed women said they were physically assaulted as a child by an adult caretaker and/or as an adult by any type of perpetrator. There is no evidence that Muslim families have a disproportionate amount of such violence.” Nussbaum also calls out the arguments she mentioned being discriminatory and unacceptable. In her article, Nussbaum’s audience seems be the arguers who put up the ridiculous arguments that have weak bases and irrelevant evidence. Nussbaum was very successful at making it clear that the arguers had no sense of justice in their

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The covering of the body by clothing ensures that the people in an Islamic society find passion in the soul, and they do not become distracted by passion on the body. In theory, this rule of culture seems to be acceptable, but it becomes extremely annoying to some women, especially for those who have spent time in Western cultures, like Gelareh. "The veil masks erotic…

    • 240 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the article “France’s headscarf war: ‘It’s an attack on freedom’”, Angelique Chrisafis describes experiences of racial discrimination through arbitrary regulations that prevent them from having religious freedom. For instance, Chrisafis explains how Youssra’s was prohibited from joining her son on a school trip because the French Republic saw headscarves as an aggression that puts children in danger. Youssra’s felt humiliated, while her child, like many other children, experienced secondary effects such as psychological difficulties. This frustrated me because some Muslims felt inferior to other ethnic groups due to having more restrictions. These regulations gave Muslims the wrong message that they would have to eliminate a part of themselves…

    • 250 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Niqab Research Paper

    • 828 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Long Newspaper Article- Assignment Part one: Summary This article is about the controversial debate concerning the Niqab (a garment concealing the entire body with the exclusion of the eyes and hands). The article states the stances of various parties on this garment, it states that the Conservative party is considering implementing a law, similar to Quebec’s Bill 62.…

    • 828 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Self Esteem And Oppression

    • 1184 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The increase in terrorist attacks and news articles headlined ISIS, promotes the stereotype that all Muslims are terrorists. Living in this biased, Caucasian community, Amal is constantly discriminated for wearing the hijab, and for following her religious practices; unfortunately, her unwavering determination to uphold her religious identity backfires when she is refused a part-time job at a local restaurant for wearing the hijab. Consequently, incidents like this work towards lowering Amal’s self-esteem and making her question her decision-making skills. To add on, Amal’s high school bullying experiences work towards demoting her self-worth. One day during class, Tia says to Amal, loudly so everyone can hear it, “there’s this article in Marie Claire about Muslim girls getting circumcised in Nigeria” (171).…

    • 1184 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    9/11 Security Issues

    • 344 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Ever since the horrific events of 9/11, the media have targeted and used Muslims and Islam to saturate inconsistent and sensationalised news to subconsciously plant a seed of fear and suspicion towards the Islamic faith. Muslim extremists, alongside the general Muslim population, receive a disproportionate amount, mainly in Western countries, of intense scrutinised worldwide media coverage, discussion, stereotypes and are generally brought upon in a negative light (The Guardian, 2005). Nevertheless, Marsden and Savigny (2009) state that: There is nothing new in claiming that security concerns dominate the media agenda, nor indeed that the causes of these security concerns are often linked to particular religious communities in political and…

    • 344 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “White feminism” is a term that has become a hot topic in recent years. In the article “Shit White Feminists Need To Stop Doing” by Anne Theriault describes white feminism as feminist women who are cisgender and white only fighting for issues that directly affect their lives, while ignoring issues that affect women of color, LGBT women, and disabled women. Theriault claims at the beginning of her article that she is a feminist herself, yet effectively insults and oppresses other women throughout her article. Anne Theriault wrote a biased article filled with opinions and no facts showing that white, feminist women are less than anyone else.…

    • 840 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Haydar Counter Argument

    • 137 Words
    • 1 Pages

    Haydar successfully achieved her goal of informing and clarify the wrong ideas and stereotypes that Americans have of the Muslin women who cover. Her use of counter argument, vivid imagery, and storytelling allowed her to demonstrate her credibility, logic and emotions in order to successfully inform her audience. She supports her main argument explaining how the veil not only mean to respect their religion but also to obtain respect from others and for themselves. For the audience: the feminists, young adults and for me, is clear what she is asking for. She wants Americas to respect not only Muslim women who veil, but everyone’s decisions.…

    • 137 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    9/11 Attacks

    • 1168 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In the United States, Muslims have become the target of an alarming rise in hate crimes and verbal abuse. As the country continues to reel in the aftermath of the horrific acts conducted by ISIL, Hezbollah, and Hamas, Anti-Muslim sentiment has become widespread and accepted. Muslim-Americans report an increase in verbal and physical abuse. There has been an increase in the number of news stories which report women who wear hijab being spit at and having their veils torn off. Similarly, mosques are being burnt down more frequently.…

    • 1168 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The three reasons provided by the author to support her thesis statement are: There is a stereotyping of Muslim women and of the burqa; The battle against the burqa is evident and reverberant in Western nations, but there is no involvement of Muslim women in this discussion; Burqa-clad women experience marginalization in Western cycles and in progressive Muslim communities. The first reason claimed by the writer is supported by her assumption that the burqa is considered by most people an opponent symbol of the Western values, and the women who wear it are controlled by men, they do not have control over their bodies and this garb is imprisoning all their rights. According to Hasan, the association of the burqa as a symbol of Islam is so strong that this topic receives more attention than other issues faced by Muslims. In order to support this assumption, she uses as an example the burqa ban request made by the Muslim Canadian Congress, which justified this request by declaring that the burqa is a political symbol of Islamic extremism. As a final appeal, Hasan resorts to loaded questions in a tentative to demonstrate how insensate this request is.…

    • 1306 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Muslim Women In America

    • 1536 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Muslim American Women Muslim women in America are constantly reminded of their intersectionality on a daily basis. They are marginalized due to their gender, religion, ethnicity, and in addition, Africa-American, Muslim women are also subjected to racism. These Muslim African-Americans are often torn between “relating to their religious brothers and sisters or to their ethnic peers” (Ahmed). Muslim women must also deal with the public’s perception, which often views them as extremists (Mogahed). This erroneous perspective is propagated by the media’s coverage of terrorism and the Muslim religion (Halimah).…

    • 1536 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Case Study: “A Matter of Veils” This case study takes place in France. An American couple, Marty and Patricia, went to visit her cousins, Jacques and Rochelle. As they were visiting, the conversation became a little heated regarding the current debate in France of whether Arab girls should be allowed to wear their veils in school or not. Currently, veils are prohibited in all schools in France.…

    • 1026 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    While race and religion plays a profound role in the integration and everyday life experiences of migrants, the events of September 11th have made the assimilation process nearly impossible for countless immigrants of a non-white ethnicity, especially individuals of an Arab or Muslim background, primarily due to the racists bigotry and stereotypes which derive from immigration enforcement practices post 9/11. Furthermore, “while race is widely perceived to lack an empirical basis, it persists as a salient feature of individual, as well as group, identity, and as a significant principle underlying the social and political order” (Provine & Doty, 261). More specifically, considering that “today the majority of Arab Americans arriving are Muslim,…

    • 653 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Burqa Ban Essay

    • 708 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In her article, “Don’t Follow France’s Burqa Ban. It Has Curbed Liberty and Justice”, Nabila Ramdani claims the ban stifles freedom, and allows the persecution and stigmatization of Muslim women. Ramdani supports her claim with flawed pieces of evidence, the first…

    • 708 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many people may not realize that everyone, whether you are white, black, asian, etc, have to deal with some form of racism on an almost daily basis. Imagine walking through an airport trying to catch your flight and you get pulled aside for looking as a terrorist. A major contributor to false accusations of different races in America is through the use of the media which portrays negative connotations. In the article Typecast as a terrorist by Riz Ahmed written in 2016, there is a clear connection to the media and the negative actions to races, especially Islamic people. Media depicts races in a while they feel will be appealing to their audience even if that means portraying race in a way that is not the truth.…

    • 974 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    This critical analysis paper will explore how the Western world has attempted to infiltrate the culture and beliefs of the Arab world and its people, and the results and effects this has had on the Arab world and surrounding countries. Specific articles will be focused on such as Frantz Fanon’s “Algeria Unveiled,” which as a primary focus on the veils worn by Arab women, and Alev Cinar’s “Clothing the National Body: Islamic Veiling and Secular Unveiling,” focusing on modern clothing in general. While these articles have a surface focus on clothing, they hold a deeper meaning and go in-depth into how the West has attempted to modernize the Arab world. The articles also introduce the many negative and positive effects on the people of these countries,…

    • 399 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays