Ms Marvel AKA Kamala Khan - Role Model For Muslim Girls?

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Farhat Amin explores whether Ms Marvel AKA Kamala Khan is a positive role model for impressionable young Muslim girls?

Marvel Studios recently announced that the character Kamala Khan also known as Ms Marvel will have her own TV series on Disney Plus.

When Marvel first unveiled Kamala Khan, she was met with widespread positive reactions online. “She “normalizes this idea of the American experience as Muslim. " Al Jazeera America 

This type of optimistic reaction occurs because Muslims think it’s good that a Muslim character is being positively represented in mainstream media.

Whilst Muslim women tend to feature more in the media than our male counterparts, this phenomenon is not limited to one demographic. Throughout modern history, many minority groups have sought prominent positions of leadership or fame to increase their influence and acquire acceptance. It is based on this idea that Muslims, especially visibly Muslim women, are encouraged to seek out and embrace platforms that will let them be seen by millions as “normal” people, to defuse hatred and fear. qarawiyyinproject.com

Who Created Kamala Khan?

Created by editors Sana Amanat and Stephen Wacker, writer G. Willow Wilson, and artists Adrian Alphona and Jamie McKelvie.

Who Is Kamala Khan?

Kamala is a Muslim-American teenager growing up in Jersey City.

What Are Kamala Khan’s Powers?

Kamala Khan gained shape-shifting powers when a strange Terrigen Mist descended upon the city, awakening her Inhuman genes.


Why Has Marvel Created A Muslim, Female Superhero, Now?

In her Ted Talk, Amanat stated that “the big idea behind Ms.Marvel [was] very much about minority representation, the bigger idea was about finding your authentic self”. While creating the comic, she drew on her own experience as the child of Pakistani immigrants in the New Jersey suburbs in hopes that the next generation will not experience identity rejection as she did through a relatable superhero. Numerous young and ethnic letter writers were excited to see Kamala Khan who looked like them and came from a similar background. wikipedia.org

I don’t doubt Amanat’s intentions however Marvel is in the business of making money. They made $5 billion in 2019. They are constantly looking for new untapped audiences to exploit not ‘represent’. Talk of “minority representation” and “authentic self” is perfect PR for Marvel. They understand how lucrative it is for them globally to tap into all ethnic and cultural markets.

In 2018, they saw the success of making a movie with a black superhero. ‘Black Panther’ Becomes Top-Grossing Superhero Film So now they want to see if they can cash in on the “Muslim Pound” by creating a relatable Asian Muslim superhero.

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