• Take a look at numerous Daily Mail headlines; alongside the Islamophobic ones, you’ll find a catalogue of headlines fixated on women’s bodies.
• How do these articles qualify as news? Islam is the only way of life that prevents the objectification and disrespect of women and enables women to be seen holistically.
The Daily Mail seems determined to perpetuate its obsession with female bodies, churning out headlines that leer at women’s physical forms. This comes at a time when extensive research highlights the growing issue of body dysmorphia among teenage girls and women. I’d like us to ponder upon how such staunch sexism continues to be acceptable.
‘But teenage girls don’t read the Daily Mail,’ I hear you say. This is true. However, nonetheless, the intellectual degradation of society and harmful ideas that seep into the minds of those who do read the Daily Mail can’t be ignored.
Female celebrities are dressing more scantily than ever. And we are living in unprecedented times where only the final scintilla of shyness remains. This is at complete odds with what my faith, Islam prescribes. However, I wish to know why the great British press fail to have any journalistic integrity when it comes to writing about women in a holistic manner. Furthermore, why is it so important for the nation to know which celebrity is highlighting her “slender figure on a yacht.”
The commodification of women’s bodies drives revenue, we know, yet it’s perplexing how such content is deemed worthy of news coverage by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (PSO).
In 2017, a Daily Mail feature that declared “Never mind Brexit, who won Legs-it!” next to a photograph of Nicola Sturgeon and Theresa May which triggered widespread outrage. Please note, the image below has been edited to ensure the ladies’ legs are not exposed.
You might chalk this up as good ol’ fashioned British humour as this isn’t the kind of punchline you’d expect about two older women. But they are someone’s grandmother and were in the midst of negotiating a major deal.
Islam is the only way of life which provides an answer
Headlines like the aforementioned make me grateful to be a Muslim Alhumdulillah; Islam provides women with all the dignity and rights we need.
When a woman’s body is covered and she is protected by the men in her life, it is impossible for her to be objectified or harassed.
Nor will there be a writer in their mum’s kitchen somewhere, cooking up a pointless and lewd ‘story’ about her appearance.
If you’re a non-Muslim woman who feels consistently objectified and disrespected, have been harassed in your workplace, and are ogled at on public transport, I invite you to look into Islam: a way of life where women are respected, because of their intellect, protected, covered, preserved, and left alone to lead fulfilling lives with purpose. Moreover, they are valued as holistic beings.
