Veiled Superheroes

Islam, Feminism, and Popular Culture

By (author) Sophia Rose Arjana With Kim Fox Foreword by Wajahat Ali

Publication date:

01 November 2017

Length of book:

178 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

Dimensions:

239x158mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781498536523

This groundbreaking study examines Muslim female superheroes within a matrix of Islamic theology, feminism, and contemporary political discourse. Through a close reading of texts including Ms. Marvel, Qahera, and The 99, Sophia Rose Arjana argues that these powerful and iconic characters reflect independence and agency, reflecting the diverse lives of Muslim girls and women in the world today.

Foreword-Wajahat Ali
Introduction
1. Muslim Women in Western Popular Culture
2. The Muslim Body, Veiling, and Contestations of Islam
3. Ms. Marvel, Islam, and America
4. Burka Avenger and the Subversive Veil
5. Qahera, Raat, Bloody Nasreen, and the Vigilante Superhero
Conclusion: Islamic Feminism and Muslim Chivalry

Sophia Arjana’s book is my ideal balance of a popular-academic book. Academics are perpetually in search of that book which will be informative and scholarly as well as creative and fun: professor, that book has arrived. Using a refreshingly global, multi-stranded framework of religious studies, gender and women’s studies, cultural studies, and media studies, Dr. Arjana investigates the subversive up-ending of cultural power dynamics through the lens of visual media. Comic book superheroes are the perfect champions to interrogate outdated, wooden status quo of dominant majority cultures. And Muslim women superheroes are ideal protagonists to right wrongs and smash hegemonic stereotypes. Arjana shows how they battle for new paradigms like the heroes of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, fight-dancing atop towering yet teetering cultural tropes.