| A New Muslim Chic |
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| Written by Risa Shoup | |||||
| Thursday, 20 September 2007 | |||||
Introducing Muslim Girl Magazine
 The inaugural issue of Muslim Girl magazine. Muslim Girl is a different kind of glossy teen mag. Like market leaders Seventeen and Teen Vogue, Muslim Girl positions itself as an arbiter of cool. And yet, for Muslim Girl, coolness is a particularly high-stakes game. It's not just a means of getting in to the popular clique or snagging a cute boyfriend. It's about showing young Muslims that they can be both members of the American mainstream and religiously observant. In 2005, publishers from Toronto-based niche marketing firm ExecuGo Media Inc. attended the 42nd annual conference of the Islamic Society of North America. There, they were introduced to what they recognized as a severely under-served market: teenage Muslim girls. "€œThese girls and young women were conveying a sense of alienation and marginalization from the dominant [North American] culture,"€ says Muslim Girl editor-in-chief Ausma Khan, who left her position as a professor of International Human Rights Law at Northwestern University to build the magazine. ExecuGo hired a staff and test marketed the publication with promising results. It launched in January of 2007 with a circulation of 40,000. The first cover pictured an American flag and a girl dressed in red, white and blue, under the headline "€œGrowing Up American." For Khan, the magazine is a means of developing a culture among Muslim women that is observant and yet modern. "We want to discuss how to keep youth engaged with their faith in ways that are attractive and life-affirming, so that they aren't drawn to destructive outlets or ideologies,"€ Khan says. Towards this end, the magazine features interviews and stories about Muslim girls and women working to reconcile their observance with the realities of life in the modern world. An interview in the July/August issue between five fourteen-year-old girls of different religions promotes interfaith friendship. In the same issue, the magazine profiles Zainah Anwar, founder of Sisters of Islam, an organization dedicated to improving women's rights in Islamic nations. At the same time, Muslim Girl does not forgo the fashion section, a standard of the genre. The magazine's models are depicted with arms and legs covered, but wearing clothes from typical American stores such as the Gap and H&M. Currently, Muslim Girl is funded entirely by its publisher, ExecuGo Media Inc. The only advertisements in the July/August issue are for secular North American-based social service organizations, including the YWCA and the Peace Corps. While the magazine is seeking additional advertisers, they are limited by the nature of their product. Says Khan, "All our advertising - including the art - must be consistent with our message of enlightening, celebrating and inspiring girls. So we will be selective in what we print."€ Still, she says, "We've found that advertisers want to know how to reach our audience in ways that are sensitive to their values." Aside from expanding their advertising content, what can readers expect from upcoming issues of Muslim Girl? "€œWe're going to be tackling tougher issues in the future - we've done many positive profiles but we'd also like to examine the problems that face our communities and consider how they might be better addressed,"€ says Khan. In particular, she expects to cover anti-Arab racism. To be sure, the magazine is already helping combat racism by raising understanding about Muslim culture, a rarity in the North American media landscape. "€œWhen we communicate openly and honestly, we do our part to clear away misconceptions and hostility,'€ Khan says.
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