Follow this link to read a blog post that I wrote for my Gender, Food, and Culture in American History class over the summer of 2015:
http://www.genderfoodculture.com/2015/09/10/mars-bars-the-hidden-gender-stereotypes-on-a-chocolate-planet/
Monday, June 20, 2016
Monday, June 13, 2016
Her Maiden Name is Ali: The Negative Effects of Airport Profiling
When I was younger, I went on a school trip to Turkey with my mother who came as a chaperone. On our way through security, my mom was stopped for a “random check” and I thought nothing about it at the time. Years later, I wonder if the check was actually random or if she was chosen because her maiden name is Ali. A stigma around Muslims and middle easterners is expected after events such as 9/11, but the increasing fear of attacks from groups such as ISIS begs the question of whether profiling in airports may lead to excessive discomfort, discrimination, and mistreatment of Muslims and middle easterns.
The amount of airport profiling in today’s society has lead to unjustifiable questioning of Muslim and middle eastern passengers and lawsuits directed at airports for discrimination. In January, four men filed a lawsuit after being kicked off of an airplane for their appearance (thinkprogress). They were not causing harm to anyone, yet they were still asked to leave. The sheer discrimination that occurred during the event represents more than just an isolated case. Muslims and middle easterners are constantly stereotyped as terrorists or dangerous people solely do to small extremists who possess similar physical characteristics as them.
Middle easterners may not even be Muslim, but may still be identified as being so. For example, my dad is Lebanese but he was raised as a Christian. No person should be discriminated against (including muslims); but this example represents the extreme extent to which people are willing to stereotype others based on their appearance. We have gotten to the point where people are stereotyped as a Muslim extremist if they have brown skin, thick dark hair, and speak a middle eastern language. Then, from this contrived stereotype, we assume that the person must be planning how to blow up the airport. Why else would a Muslim be in an airport?
It is 2016. It is time to stop all and every form of discrimination. When will we learn from our mistakes of the past? When will we treat others equally? When will we see that we are all just people trying to live our lives on the same planet? There has been enough discrimination in this world already. Get over it.
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