Converging Identities, Emerging Discourses: Muslim Fe-male Voices in British Media

Abstract

There is an increasing presence of female Muslim voices in both mainstream British media and minority or community media as greater access has enabled them to create spaces for themselves in print, broadcast and new media. In converging their gender and religious identities, they are generating new discourses that challenge widely held stereotypes and starting new conversations about what it means to be female, British and Muslim. Using interview data from five journalists and examples of media discourses, this paper shows how the articulation of gendered and religious identities is evidence of a growing confidence and continued agency among young Muslim women in the UK.