Page 32 - AT

A32 FEATURE
Saturday 18 January 2020
Muslim millennial's site dispels stereotypes for millions

By LUIS ANDRES HENAO low her on social media
Associated Press under the hashtag "#mus-
NEW YORK (AP) — Today limgirlarmy. She also has
she travels the world, at- detractors who say she is
tends a red-carpet movie too Americanized or too
premiere and sits on pan- progressive. Some question
els with astronauts, former her appearance, such as
presidents and feminist the way she wears her hijab
icons. or shows her arms. She also
But in the years after 9/11, has tattoos, an eyebrow
Amani Al-Khatahtbeh was ring and long manicured
just a New Jersey teenag- nails.
er, writing a blog from her "A lot of times, at any given
bedroom. She used the moment, I can have like
blog to connect with other two completely different,
young Muslim girls and defy opposing parties be bond-
stereotypes. At the time, ed by their criticism of us,"
the only reflections of her- Al-Khatahtbeh said,
self in the news seemed to These days, she divides her
be men in orange jumpsuits time between Los Angeles
who looked like her father and New York, attending
and women who seemed meetings for potential busi-
silent and oppressed, she ness partners and live-re-
said. In this Dec. 19, 2019, photo, Amani Al-Khatahtbeh, founder of Muslimgirl.com, records a podcast cording moments of her life
"Being bombarded with pilot at Spotify's headquarters in New York. Associated Press for Instagram and Twitter.
those headlines growing In recent years, Forbes mag-
up and never feeling rep- group of editors, most ar- azine chose her for its "30
resented by them, I did ticles are written by Muslim Under 30" list of top achiev-
what any millennial would women volunteers. ers. Michelle Obama asked
do, which was to turn to so- Muslim Girl has also part- her to speak at the United
cial media," Al-Khatahtbeh nered up with companies State of Women Summit.
said. "I decided to put my like ORLY for the creation She was also part of a pan-
own place out there and of a halal nail polish and el that included female
create that space for us to received support from the astronaut Cody Coleman
talk back." Malala Fund. Most recent- and was moderated by
A decade later, her Mus- ly, VaynerMedia founder former President Bill Clinton.
limGirl.com site is an online Gary Vaynerchuk became Most recently, she served
magazine with a global au- an investor. on an advisory committee
dience writing about how it The site's topics — in cat- for the live-action remake
feels to be the only woman egories like #woke, #fit and of Disney's "Aladdin" and
in a hijab at a kickboxing #fierce — range widely. attended the premiere.
class, offering beauty tips In this Dec. 27, 2019, photo, Amani Al-Khatahtbeh, center, sits Posts include a list of the "It was such a full-circle
and covering stories of near the back of the room at the Islamic Center of New York top 10 most beautiful vers- moment for me, because
teenagers fighting Islamo- University during Friday prayers. es from the Quran, a look when I was a little girl, Prin-
phobia. Last year, the do- Associated Press at Marvel's newest Mus- cess Jasmine was one of
main that she bought for Jersey girl," it was only in with help from friends at her lim superhero and a story the only representations
$7 had more than 2 million Jordan that she began to local mosque. Most of the about how hijab-wearing that I had growing up," she
visitors. take pride in her roots. She work is still a grassroots ef- Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Mu- said.
The site "is the biggest Eng- learned Arabic and appre- fort. Her younger brother, hammad has a Barbie doll Being on the committee al-
lish-language online plat- ciated Middle Eastern food Ameer, a journalism stu- made in her likeness. lowed her "to try to course-
form for Muslim women and hospitality. When she dent at Rutgers University, The site and its founder correct some of the prob-
voices," the tech entrepre- returned to the U.S., she be- helps run communications. have attracted a legion lematic stereotypes" in the
neur, now 27, said at her gan to wear a headscarf as Although the site pays a of devoted fans who fol- first movie, including some
family's video game store in an act of defiance against that she did not notice as
New Jersey. "Our goal is to a rising anti-Muslim tide. a child.
reclaim our narrative." "I lost a lot of friends, people She pointed to two exam-
She was 9 when the airlin- started treating me differ- ples: The opening song talk-
ers struck the World Trade ently," she said. But she also ed about a faraway place
Center towers, and she re- became an ambassador that is "barbaric." And Jas-
members the warning of for her faith. Students, even mine was dressed in a belly
her Jordanian immigrant teachers, stopped her in dancing outfit and chains
father: "They're going to school and asked about in a "hyper-sexualized and
blame us." the Quran and Islam. oppressive way."
In the aftermath, she was "I had to learn as much as On her site, Al-Khatahtbeh
bullied. People threw eggs I possibly could about my is especially proud of sto-
at her home and slashed own religion, the ins and ries that deal with race
her mother's tires. Her fam- outs of it, what Islamo- and sexuality. "Of course,
ily faced such a backlash phobes were saying about female sexuality is honored
that her father temporarily it, so that I could under- In this Dec. 20, 2019, photo, Amani Al-Khatahtbeh, founder of within our religion, and it
relocated them to Jordan. stand how to respond," she MuslimGirl.com, sits for an interview inside her family's video shouldn't be something we
While she is proud of be- said. game and electronic store business in Somerville, N.J. shy away from or think of as
ing "born and raised a She started the blog at 17 Associated Press a taboo."q