Gendered Islamophobia

Finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award, Non-fiction, 2023

This passionate book describes the author's struggles as a hijab-wearing Muslim woman, who was born and raised in Tunisia, where she attended university before coming to Quebec, Canada as an immigrant. Mazigh describes her struggles against Islamophobia as it applies to women, especially those wearing hijab, who consistently get stereotyped as silent and compliant women dominated by their men. In great detail she describes this phenomenon, encountered in the streets and public spaces, in universities, and in the media, and she describes similar experiences of other women of different ethnic backgrounds across Canada, and its effects on the victims.

"By combining the personal with the empirical, Mazigh walks non-Muslim readers toward empathy through an explanation of the nuances of her experiences and she teaches other Muslim women to believe themselves and recognize their trauma - all the while exposing the bias and power imbalance within Canadian society. [. . .] GENDERED ISLAMOPHOBIA reveals that there is much work to be done to ensure Muslim women's safety in our society. A towering revelation indeed for so short a book."--Quill & Quire

Literary Nonfiction.