New research shows 58% of Muslim women feel stereotyped in media and advertising

A new report has shown that only one in five Muslim women (19%) feel that Muslims are represented positively in advertising, while more than half (58%) feel that they are stereotyped in ads and media.

Even fewer Muslim women (only 14%) say they see their culture represented in the media ‘often’ or ‘very often’. In fact, more than a third (35%) said that representation occurred ‘rarely’ or ‘never’.

The study also revealed the scale of this missed opportunity: three-quarters (75%) said they would be more likely to buy products from brands that show Muslims in a positive/authentic way. This would enable brands to reach a UK community of 3.9m people, half of whom are aged under 30 better. Muslims contribute £31bn to the UK economy each year.

The survey of more than 200 Muslim women was carried out by media agency UM in partnership with media company Amaliah, which focuses on amplifying the voices of female Muslims.

Entertainment brands such as TV channels were seen as the brands most likely to stereotype Muslims (65% said as much), followed by dating/relationship apps (57%) and food & drink brands (44%).

Beauty/makeup brands were viewed as least likely to use stereotypical representations in the media – but even so, only 25% felt Muslims were shown authentically by those brands in this category.

Some of the negative stereotypes highlighted by the respondents included “Oppressed docile homemakers with zero agency of their own” and “That Muslim women aren't capable or intelligent enough to be successful in a career.”

As one respondent put it, “It always just feels like they just needed to check a token brown girl/hijab/Muslim etc. off the list of diversity inclusions to make it look like they care about our communities, when in reality that couldn’t be further from the truth.”

Nafisa Bakkar, founder & CEO of Amaliah, says: “One of the misconceptions brands have is that independent media do not have brand scale. However, our campaigns have proved both relevancy and reach and in turn brand uplift which we measure. Our audiences are not ‘hard to reach’, you just have to be able to know how to reach them, which is our superpower.

“We worked with Sainsbury's on its Ramadan campaign. Consumer polling showed it was considered third after two of its competitor supermarkets. Post our campaign, Sainsbury's ranked number 1 and due to the authenticity and cultural diversity of our content, we also were able to influence and increase positive sentiment.

“For CoppaFeel!, a breast cancer awareness charity, we worked on an OOH campaign as well as a digital partnership featuring a funny tone of voice asking Muslim women how to say ‘boobs’ in their language as an icebreaker to be able to talk about Breast Cancer. Women of Colour are more likely to get diagnosed at a later stage so educating on and encouraging checking is vital for better outcomes. The campaign exceeded media plan targets by 182%, with our first vox pop reaching half a million organically almost instantly.”

Gabriela Paiva, insights director at UM, concludes: “Marketers need to listen and learn, and actually research what Muslims want to see and hear rather than relying on stereotypes. That means building authentic connections with the community and ensuring Muslims are involved in the decision-making process.”