Ms.
Marvel: The Need for Muslim Representation
G. Willow Wilson’s work, particularly her work on Marvel
comics’ Ms. Marvel are shining examples of how to portray respectable female
characters while also really respectfully portraying a characters of different ethnic backgrounds. Because
of the massive orange elephant in the room, the need for Muslim representation
in media of all types grows is increasingly more apparent every day. In a
country whose government proposes bans on Muslims, it is important that
portrayals of Muslims be fair and complex. No single piece of media tackles the
issue of Muslim American identity better than G. Willow Wilson’s comic, Ms. Marvel. Wilson’s Ms.
Marvel is a shining gem in a mud ridden landscape full of borderline
slanderous and harmful portrayals of Muslim people. Not only does it gracefully
deal with issues of Muslim Identity, but also gives a keen sense of realism to
it’s titular character.
All over the world, but especially in the United States, harmful portrayals of Muslims are extremely prevalent. By harmful, what I mean is that these portrayals lead to a negative association towards a group of people, in this case, Muslims. A harmful portrayal may dehumanize a group and function to set the group apart as a foil to commonly held beliefs and ideals. In an article for The Huffington Post titled “Spreading Islamophobia: Consequences of Negative Media Representations”, Muniba Saleem writes “The majority of Americans are instead exposed to Muslims through the media, which tends to represent Muslims as terrorists, violent, and ‘the Other.’”, citing bad representation as the reason for negative attitudes towards Muslims in the united states. It is because of constant exposure to negative media portrayals of
All over the world, but especially in the United States, harmful portrayals of Muslims are extremely prevalent. By harmful, what I mean is that these portrayals lead to a negative association towards a group of people, in this case, Muslims. A harmful portrayal may dehumanize a group and function to set the group apart as a foil to commonly held beliefs and ideals. In an article for The Huffington Post titled “Spreading Islamophobia: Consequences of Negative Media Representations”, Muniba Saleem writes “The majority of Americans are instead exposed to Muslims through the media, which tends to represent Muslims as terrorists, violent, and ‘the Other.’”, citing bad representation as the reason for negative attitudes towards Muslims in the united states. It is because of constant exposure to negative media portrayals of
Muslims, that these
negative perceptions persist in our culture to this day. It is for this reason that works like Ms. Marvel are necessary. Ms. Marvel is a very standard take on a
super hero origin story. A character, Kamala Kahn, must learn to use her powers
for the good of her community and the people around her. In this regard, it is
standard and in line with the super hero comic book canon. It is the presentation of Kamala and the
other Muslim members of her family and community as normal that sets Wilson’s Ms. Marvel apart from other works. The
thing that separates Kamala from the rest of us is not the fact that she is
Muslim, but the fact that she has these powers that she must deal with. This
kind of representation is important because it gives us an experience that we
are used to seeing portrayed, without stripping the characters religious and
ethnic identity of what makes them unique. In other tt gives the reader an
outlet with which to identify with a group without dehumanizing the group and
reducing that group to harmful stereotypes.
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| Kamala kahn struggling with the dichotomy between discovering her powers(puberty metaphor) and her Muslim Identity |
The reason this
work and works like this are important is because the division of race and
culture along ideological lines directly causes these harmful stereotypes.
Removing these negative dividing lines from representations of racial and
religious identity removes any imagined distinctions between different
cultures, positively changing perceptions of these cultures. In the Complete
Idiot’s Guide to Literary Theory and criticism, Venturino writes “viewing race
as a biologically determined quality that divides the human species is
unsupportable. Yet recognizing race as ideological—as a social interpretation
of difference—reminds us of the enormous power that social fictions
wield.”(Venturino 182). This quotes perfectly outlines this idea. In Ms. Marvel, Kamala Kahn faces the same
hardships that any American teen might. Her parents want what is best for her
but are unable to understand her reasons for sneaking out at night. She must
deal with the conflict between her home identity and
her identity as a teenager,
as represented by her budding super powers and the way she handles their
development. It is a portrayal that has
a lot of nuance and is beneficial to the development of a more positive,
realistic image of Muslim people in America.
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