"The Best Damn Representation of Islam:" Islamophobia, Muslims, Gender, and Social Media

• In Event: Hashtagging, Branding, Missing Voices: Social and New Media's Continued Ambiguity as Contested Spaces

Abstract

Islamophobia has penetrated U.S. culture for centuries but intensified after September 11, 2001 and reached new levels in the 2015-2016 U.S. election campaign. We conducted focus groups with Muslim women and men in the U.S. to understand their experiences of and responses to Islamphobia online and offline. How do women and men experience Islamophbia with social media? Preliminary findings show Muslim women’s labor to be the “best” Muslim online and offline; they also find safety offine in their diverse communities and use social media to let loose and just be human. Men Muslims are more ready to confront people offline and assert themselves as “unapologetically Muslim.” Both most often use ignoring and contextualizing as a coping mechanisms onine and offline; especially online the number of Islamophobic messages is perceived as overwhelming. This leads to a sense of futility to engage with people to discuss Islam.

Authors

• Stine Eckert, Wayne State U

• Sydney O'Shay-Wallace, Wayne State U

• JADE METZGER, Wayne State U

• Holly Reiss, Wayne State U

• Sean Kolhoff, Wayne State U

• Fatima Ibrahim, Wayne State U

• Savannah Coco, Wayne State U

• Lauren Vileo, Wayne State U

• Tamera Horton, Wayne State U