Identity in Ms. Marvel

Identity in Ms. Marvel

In the first chapter we are introduced to the Khan family. I found the conflicting ideologies surrounding identity very interesting. For example, Abu, Yusuf Khan scolds Kamala’s older brother for spending “all day praying”, insisting that he should be looking for a job. It is interesting that Aamir is apparently more religiously devout than his father. We can see this by his expressions of faith--wearing traditional Muslim clothing, praying before eating--and his desire to find employment that does not “offend Allah” as Yusuf’s banking job does.

While Yusuf is evidently less religious than his son, he still seems to cling to traditional patriarchal ideologies of Islam.  For example, when Kamala asks to go to the party on the riverfront, her father is immediately dismissive, saying, “it is not safe for a young girl to be out late at night with strange boys, drinking, God knows what, thinking God knows what”. Not only does he express a desire to control her physical person (suggesting she invites a friend over to do homework/watch movies), but also her thoughts. Kamala believes his strict parenting is because she is a female, which outrages him, resulting in her being confined to her room until she “finds [her] manners”. While, both Aamir and Kamala have ideological differences with their father at the dinner table, Yusuf seems to be more troubled by Kamala’s rebellion because she is a female.

I found Yusuf’s ideas surrounding identity to be a synthesis of American and Islamic ideologies. For example, he sees work ethic as a measure of masculinity, praising Bruno for working and getting “top grades”. Conversely, he seems to believe that females should be submissive and protected from negative outside influence, which is made evident by his desire to keep Kamala in the house on Friday night. I thought it was interesting that Yusuf places importance on education for both males and females (praising Bruno for grades, suggesting Kamala get ahead by doing homework on Friday), but still believes man’s place is in the world, and woman’s is in the household.