Abstract
Gendered Islamophobia is a term used to describe the difference in how Muslim women are affected differently by Islamophobia than Muslim men. This includes how the differences in the portrayal of Muslim women in the media when compared to the portrayal of Muslim men in the era after 9/11. This thesis analyzes various different narratives that have been attached to Muslim women by the American media, how Muslim women are framed by Fox News and CNN, and what effects this framing has had on Muslim women in America. To do this, this thesis first explores the deep history of Orientalism and how this has transformed into Islamophobia within the American context. The thesis then examines how this history has led to the creation of the various different narratives that are attached to Muslim women specifically in the form of gendered Islamophobia, how both Fox News and CNN use these narratives in frames that echo their political affiliations, and how this framing affects Muslim women living in America. Using Congresswoman Ilhan Omar as an illustrative and analytical example of a prominently visible Muslim woman, this thesis analyzes how the narratives that are attached to Muslim women in general are reflected in Fox News’s and CNN’s coverage of Omar as a hijab-wearing Muslim woman in Congress, and how it has affected Omar’s career both positively and negatively. Finally, the thesis offers some suggestions to change the prevalent narratives and framing that are used by the news media’s depictions of Muslim women to move away from Orientalist and Islamophobic tropes that are currently present in both Fox News’s and CNN’s framing of Muslim women.