The majority of monsters examined in this study are defined by the "toxic" masculinity pointed to earlier. Muslim monsters are not just masculine—they are outrageously so, with superhuman sexual powers, an otherworldly kind of strength, and an unfathomable propensity for violence. A few female monsters are included, but they are scarce when compared to the overwhelming number of romanticized female Muslim characters in the literature. Like all monsters, the female characters included here—cannibalistic Saracens, vampires, and others—vary considerably depending on the anxiety in force, although the overwhelming majority of female Muslim monsters are cast as sexually toxic.

QUESTION: What specific cultural anxieties drove the sexualization of female Muslim monsters versus the romanticization of most female Muslim characters?

Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imag…, loc. 61