Most Americans have misconceptions about Muslim women because of misleading portrayals, in the media, said Ingrid Mattson Tuesday in an Islam Awareness Week speech.

About 85 people attended the event sponsored by the Muslim-cultural Students Association, “Women in Islam: Embracing Modernity with Faith.” It was the third event in a one-week series designed to spread awareness about Muslim culture at Northwestern.

“(Islam) is about faith and God and bringing people closer to God,” Mattson said.

Mattson, vice president of the Islamic Society of North America, converted to Islam in college. She said Muslim women face “many misunderstandings and many challenges.”

Some of the challenges include barriers preventing Muslim women from fully developing their relationships with God, misunderstandings regarding women’s rights in Islam and negative portrayals of Muslim women in comparison to other modern American women.

“(Difficulties result) because of the information being presented in an incorrect fashion or because there is not enough information out there,” she said. “There is a misconception that Islam is a barrier for women to live in modern life and that misconception stems from people making a broad generalization from people they know.”

Mattson said the media often furthers these existing stereotypes.

“We have a distorted image of the Muslim world, and that is due to the barrier formed by what we see in the news,” she said. “The bizarre, strange and obscure things are what news stories focus on.”

Mattson added that American standards of modernity may not apply to Muslim women.

“We create a standard of modernity precisely according to our own current lifestyle and exclude anyone who does not share that same standard,” Mattson said.

She also spoke about ancient scholars who misinterpreted passages in the Quran.

“Muslim women throughout history have tried to prevent the use of Islam from oppressing them,” Mattson said. “It’s not unique to Muslim women. It’s a human struggle.”

Sabrina Siddiqui said Mattson’s speech was “really significant.”

“People often think that women are oppressed and it’s not like that anymore,” said Siddiqui, a Medill freshman.

Weinberg freshman Marwa Mekki said Mattson can serve as an example to modern Muslim women.

“She sees problems and she wants to fix them, and if that is modern and liberal then so be it,” Marwa said.

Reach Marcy Miranda at [email protected].