This article examines the representation of Islam and Muslims in the British press. It suggests that British Muslims are portrayed as an 'alien other' within the media. It suggests that this misrepresenatation can be linked to the development of a 'racism', namely, Islamphobia that has its roots in cultural representations of the 'other'. In order to develop this arguement, the article provies a summary/ overview of how ethnic minorities have been represented in the British press and argues that the treatment of British Muslims and Islam follows these themes of 'deviance' and 'un-Britishness'.
The Representation of Islam and Muslims in the Media
The article employs a subjective personal approach to show that new racisms are alive in the twenty-first century. Tracing my parents' journey from India and Pakistan to Britain, it explores the political effects of the racism they and their children faced. Locating these reflections in a post-9/11 world, the article describes the turn my academic work has taken in response to media representations of Muslims, and calls for academic research on British Muslim identity to reflect the process of identity-making and its contingencies.
Just as the Civil Rights and Black consciousness movements have inspired human rights activists around the world, Malcolm X has been a motivating figure for such people (Marqusee 1999). Malcolm X’s appeal and recognition have transcended the boundaries of “race” and national borders.
Building from previous researchers' conceptions of queer technologies, we consider what it means to be a trans technology. This research study draws from interviews with Tumblr transition bloggers (n = 20), along with virtual ethnography, trans theory, and trans technological histories, using Tumblr as a case study to understand how social technologies can meet the needs of trans communities. Tumblr supported trans experiences by enabling users to change over time within a network of similar others, separate from their network of existing connections, and to embody (in a digital space) identities that would eventually become material. Further, before 2018 policy changes banning "adult" content, Tumblr upheld policies and an economic model that allowed erotic content needed for intersectional trans community building. We argue that these aspects made Tumblr a trans technology. We examine themes of temporality, openness, change, separation, realness, intersectionality, and erotics, along with considering social media platforms' policies and economic models, to show how trans technologies can provide meaningful spaces for trans communities.
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