Single word for Islamophobia that describes origin, not religion?
November 19, 2015 5:33 AM Subscribe
"Islamophobia" is natural as a default word because >90% of Middle Eastern people identify as Muslims -- but is there any other single word for MiddleEasternpersonphobia that's not religion-based? (I'm asking about a single word because I'm wondering if there's a replacement specifically for the term "anti-Islamophobic.")
Well, there's arabophobia, but not all Middle-Easterners are Arabs, either.
posted by jacquilynne at 5:42 AM on November 19, 2015
posted by jacquilynne at 5:42 AM on November 19, 2015
I think its just xenophobia...
posted by flink at 5:58 AM on November 19, 2015 [8 favorites]
posted by flink at 5:58 AM on November 19, 2015 [8 favorites]
Well, if you got literal about "anti-semitic"...
posted by AwkwardPause at 6:07 AM on November 19, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by AwkwardPause at 6:07 AM on November 19, 2015 [5 favorites]
But is it actually a fear of Middle Easterners, or is the fear of Middle Easterners because they're presumed to be (a) Arabs and (b) Muslim?
Obviously, not all people from the Middle East are, but this is the dominant impression that uninformed people have, and fears can be based on impressions rather than truths.
I'm thinking of how attitudes towards people from Israel differ from Islamaphobia - there are prejudices against the Jewish population of Israel too, but they're different and often spread by different people. And then there are states like Mauritania, whose population is regarded with similar Islamophobic attitudes, despite not being in the Middle East.
I don't think you're going to find a single replacement word, because the prejudice has religious, racial, and cultural components, and none of these map perfectly to the actual population that is the target.
And where does Pakistan figure in all this? Much of the rhetoric applied to people of Pakistan is Islamophobic.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 6:55 AM on November 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
Obviously, not all people from the Middle East are, but this is the dominant impression that uninformed people have, and fears can be based on impressions rather than truths.
I'm thinking of how attitudes towards people from Israel differ from Islamaphobia - there are prejudices against the Jewish population of Israel too, but they're different and often spread by different people. And then there are states like Mauritania, whose population is regarded with similar Islamophobic attitudes, despite not being in the Middle East.
I don't think you're going to find a single replacement word, because the prejudice has religious, racial, and cultural components, and none of these map perfectly to the actual population that is the target.
And where does Pakistan figure in all this? Much of the rhetoric applied to people of Pakistan is Islamophobic.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 6:55 AM on November 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
Xenophobia is the word I'm using, because that's what it is. People pretend it's because of religion, but it's just Those People, it doesn't matter. The Other, whatever handy excuse works.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:31 AM on November 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Lyn Never at 8:31 AM on November 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
Xenophobia.
For white Americans who have biases against immigrants, I just call them hypocrites.
posted by bile and syntax at 9:00 AM on November 19, 2015 [3 favorites]
For white Americans who have biases against immigrants, I just call them hypocrites.
posted by bile and syntax at 9:00 AM on November 19, 2015 [3 favorites]
I think the operative term here is racism. Xenophobia may be more technically correct, but this is the same as the racism that spawned Japanese internment camps and lynching and slavery -- its a systemic ordering of the world into "people" and "not quite people." Systemic racism justifies fear of others and feeds upon it, using that fear as a justification for lumping individuals into a category that is less-than. When someone is feeling fear, I find it helpful to call it racism (but not prejudice)-- because then it becomes possible to talk about where the fear is coming from and to see that we often feel fear because we are participating in a racialized/racist system.
It's important to not jump to blaming individuals or labeling them as prejudiced -- guilt is not the desired reaction. We need people to move out of fear and into anger (at a system that causes that kind of thinking) or motivation (to oppose and change that system). There are going to be some folks that are really just ignorant and hateful, but the vast majority of people that feel fear of Islam or of people from the Middle East are caught up in a system that is structured to make them feel that way, just as I am caught up in a system that is designed to make me fear black men. The only antidotes are awareness, vigilance, and education, since racism is already baked into everything and appears in our unconscious reactions.
posted by cubby at 9:06 AM on November 19, 2015 [4 favorites]
It's important to not jump to blaming individuals or labeling them as prejudiced -- guilt is not the desired reaction. We need people to move out of fear and into anger (at a system that causes that kind of thinking) or motivation (to oppose and change that system). There are going to be some folks that are really just ignorant and hateful, but the vast majority of people that feel fear of Islam or of people from the Middle East are caught up in a system that is structured to make them feel that way, just as I am caught up in a system that is designed to make me fear black men. The only antidotes are awareness, vigilance, and education, since racism is already baked into everything and appears in our unconscious reactions.
posted by cubby at 9:06 AM on November 19, 2015 [4 favorites]
I don't think you will find such a word. Just like there aren't any specific words for eastasianpersonphobia, Africanpersonphobia or northamericanpersonphobia.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 10:12 AM on November 19, 2015
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 10:12 AM on November 19, 2015
Orientalism hits a bit closer than xenophobia.
posted by politikitty at 10:32 AM on November 19, 2015
posted by politikitty at 10:32 AM on November 19, 2015
Well, if you got literal about "anti-semitic"...
Please don't settle on antisemitic. It has a very specific anti-Jewish history in that it was invented as a term in order to try to make hatred of Jews acceptable. Also, in my experience, people who argue now that the word should have a broader meaning often do so almost as if the Jews stole a word that should belong to all Semites, which is not what happened, so using the word for something other than what it means sometimes seems antisemitic.
posted by OmieWise at 10:35 AM on November 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
Please don't settle on antisemitic. It has a very specific anti-Jewish history in that it was invented as a term in order to try to make hatred of Jews acceptable. Also, in my experience, people who argue now that the word should have a broader meaning often do so almost as if the Jews stole a word that should belong to all Semites, which is not what happened, so using the word for something other than what it means sometimes seems antisemitic.
posted by OmieWise at 10:35 AM on November 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
Well, if you got literal about "anti-semitic"...
posted by AwkwardPause at 9:07 AM on November 19 [4 favorites +] [!]
Even if you take the pairing literally it doesnt hold up, because Berbers don't speak a semetic language and neither do Iranians or Kurds.
posted by MisantropicPainforest at 11:57 AM on November 19, 2015
posted by AwkwardPause at 9:07 AM on November 19 [4 favorites +] [!]
Even if you take the pairing literally it doesnt hold up, because Berbers don't speak a semetic language and neither do Iranians or Kurds.
posted by MisantropicPainforest at 11:57 AM on November 19, 2015
Given the large range of phenotypes and ethnicities in majority Muslim regions, it can feel not entirely accurate to pin Islamophobia to racism. Islamophobia is certainly racialized, but there are tons of Muslims who look "white," and who would be shocked to be categorized as non-white. (On the other hand, the US Census categorizes all Middle Eastern people as white, which, lol.) I think xenophobia is your best bet.
And maybe it's just me, but Orientalism seems much more about depictions of and discourse about the Middle East than it is about your standard everyday shittiness to Middle Eastern people, which is generally just a toxic mix of Islamophobia and racism.
Definitely don't use anything centered on anti-semitic or being Arab though. I'm pretty sure the majority of Muslims aren't Arab at all (see all the Muslims in Indonesia and Malaysia and China and Pakistan and India and Afghanistan...).
posted by yasaman at 5:16 PM on November 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
And maybe it's just me, but Orientalism seems much more about depictions of and discourse about the Middle East than it is about your standard everyday shittiness to Middle Eastern people, which is generally just a toxic mix of Islamophobia and racism.
Definitely don't use anything centered on anti-semitic or being Arab though. I'm pretty sure the majority of Muslims aren't Arab at all (see all the Muslims in Indonesia and Malaysia and China and Pakistan and India and Afghanistan...).
posted by yasaman at 5:16 PM on November 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
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posted by kalapierson at 5:39 AM on November 19, 2015