Abstract

In the previous century, the biggest Western stereotype about Muslim women was her view as a victim. It goes back to the medieval era when a white man is shown saving a harem girl. This concept continued feeding a white Christian supremacist hero complex for a long time. Around the turn of this century, this representation of Muslim women has changed from odalisque to termagant. The new representation of Muslim women presents her as a threat to the global peace and harmony. The researchers are of the view that attaching any stereotypical notion to any segment of human society is a form of oppression which needs to be identified, analyzed and finally confronted. The significance of this research lies in the emancipatory agenda for uncovering the Islam phobic construction of the image of veiled Muslim woman. The caricatures disseminated on the World Wide Web, during the year 2017, are an integral part of the media war playing a vital role in spreading Islam phobia. Countering and demystifying the widespread lethal Islam phobic trends is among the responsibilities of Muslim scholars. The greatest damage of bigoted graphic imagery is that the biased stereotypes against Muslim woman are not only perpetuating and self-reinforcing across generation, they also pave way for Western colonial endeavors. The lens of critical discourse analysis helps us find that the past practice of the stereotypical representation of Muslim woman as a victim of oppression has recently been replaced by her identity construction as an agent of oppression. The research can aid in changing the prejudiced perception of broader world community about the Muslim woman.