Depicting the veil

the long version

Describes how gendered Orientalism is wielded to justify Western imperialism. Over the last ten years, Western governments and mainstream media have utilized concepts of white masculine supremacy and feminine helplessness, juxtaposed with Orientalist images depicting women of colour as mysterious, sinister, and dangerous to support war. Oscillating between 'Mrs. Anthrax', female suicide bombers and tragic, helpless victims, representations of 'brown women' have spawned both rescue narratives and terrorist alerts.