Introduction Regardless of religion, country or background, women around the world have constantly been forced to look and feel inferior. Even in our country, known as the “land of the free,” women were not granted the right to vote until 1920. Even getting it took marches, lobbying, conferences, millions of supporters, and many other things. While we in Western civilization are fairly new to this section of history related to “women's equality” and are still facing disadvantaged women and minorities in many aspects of daily life, we continue to criticize the way we “think” that Muslim women are treated: failing to realize our lack of education on the matter. When most people think of Islamic women, they think of the many stereotypes that have been fed to us by the media. We are constantly shown the message that Muslim women are treated badly on TV, radio, movies, magazines, news, etc.; from the veil, the oppression of Islamic women, the education of Islamic women, and the overall portrayal of Muslim women, we see negativity. Through education about Islamic traditions, history and culture, we as a society can have a better understanding of what Islam truly represents. Here in the United States, Muslim “gender roles” in some other countries may seem unfair and barbaric because they are different, but with proper cultural education one can begin to see them in a different light. Focus: I was mainly inspired by the screening of Shaping Faith to write about Islamic women. The film was a documentary about how American Muslim women view fashion. Several young Muslim women were present who explained where and how faith and fashion meet. They discussed a few things including: "the headscarf", Muslim fashion versus secular fashion, a... medium......view is encouraged and accepted in American culture, why should we be able to judge Islam to be subjugated in ways they might choose? Conclusion It is wrong to assume that we know the details of every situation based on what we think or what the media has taught us. It is critical that you do your research to become educated on an issue before making a judgment; this cannot be more true when considering Muslim women. Just like American women, Muslim women are different. Not everyone wears headscarves or traditional Muslim clothing, and among those who do, some of them only wear them because they want to. Furthermore, they are not all “oppressed women forced to stay at home”, some of them are very important and respected people in their communities. We should seek education and understanding so that we can become more culturally competent.