Some muslims argue that treating women and men the same will only be oppression. They ask:

• Why force a woman to be like a man?
• Why make everyone believe that they are the same? 
• Does this not take away the value of life itself? 

However, even though feminism advocates for equality for men and women, it does not mean that women and men are the same in biological characteristics or need uniformity in roles. This equality means equal in value, opportunity and respect. The idea is to make sure they are not restricted legally, socially and culturally simply because of their gender.

When told these things they say that that might have been feminism but it is not anymore. ‘Nowadays feminism forces all women to work, and brainwashes young girls.’ When presented with the idea that media outlets selectively focus on a particular type of feminism, some respond, ‘Exactly, since the media mainly shows that, that’s what feminism has become today.

There is a common belief that Feminism and Islam can not go hand in hand. I believe that these people are either not aware of how the religion of Islam sees women or what feminism is.

Am I the only one that finds this hypocritical?

This selective focus in the media isn’t limited to feminism. In fact, it mirrors how Muslims are often portrayed in the media, leading to dangerous generalisations such as: ‘All Muslims are terrorists’

Just as the portrayal of Muslims as terrorists in the media does not define Islam, the portrayal of feminism through the lens of white feminism does not define the entire feminist movement. Instead of letting media portrayals shape one’s views and understandings on beliefs and movements, why not choose to educate oneself?