Podcast Summary:

New Books Network – Deanna Ferree Womack, "Re-Inventing Islam: Gender and the Protestant Roots of American Islamophobia" (Oxford UP, 2025)
Host: Byung Ho Choi
Guest: Deanna Ferree Womack
Date: December 21, 2025

Overview

In this episode, host Byung Ho Choi interviews Dr. Deanna Ferree Womack about her new book, Re-Inventing Islam: Gender and the Protestant Roots of American Islamophobia. The conversation explores how Anglo-Protestant missionary movements historically shaped American perceptions of Islam, with a distinctive emphasis on gendered discourses. Dr. Womack traces the genealogy of anti-Muslim bias in America back to Protestant missions and examines how these gendered stereotypes, circulated through diverse media and by both men and women, continue to inform Islamophobia today. The episode offers an in-depth look at missionary writings, children’s literature, material culture, and interfaith implications for contemporary society.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Introduction to the Guest and Book (09:03–11:03)

• Dr. Womack shares her academic journey and focus on World Christianity, mission history, and Christian-Muslim relations.
• Her personal and scholarly experiences in Lebanon and the Middle East serve as a foundation for her research.
• Notable Quote:

  “As early as high school, I became interested in the Middle East as a place where the three monotheistic faiths converged…whose religious and cultural and political history needed to be better understood.”
  —Deanna Ferree Womack (10:33)

2. Origins and Motivations for the Book (11:38–14:24)

• The book was spurred by contemporary concerns about the rise of Islamophobia in the U.S., particularly surrounding questions about gender and women in Islam.
• Womack examines how Protestant missionaries were central in disseminating information about Islam before modern mass media.
• She identifies the absence of gender analysis in Christian-Muslim relations studies as a significant scholarly gap she aims to address.
• Notable Quote:

  “I wanted to gain a better understanding and ultimately to challenge the anti-Muslim prejudices pervading Protestant culture…”
  —Deanna Ferree Womack (12:08)

3. Scope of Historical Research and Sources (15:26–17:36)

• Research drew from an array of missionary and church archives, encompassing textual and material sources across the US, England, and Scotland.
• Womack highlights her commitment to analyzing not just scholarly theological texts, but also creative formats such as fiction, images, and stage performances.
• She stresses the importance of including both men’s and women’s contributions in missionary history.
• Notable Quote:

  “I wanted to help readers see the wider variety of formats through which Protestants have cultivated ideas about Muslims—not just through theological and more scholarly text, but through other creative and tangible mediums…”
  —Deanna Ferree Womack (16:20)

4. Reinventing Islam: Theoretical Framework (21:28–22:44)

• The book conceptualizes “reinventing Islam” as Protestants’ adaptive recycling of inherited ideas for new theological, cultural, or political purposes.
• Earlier Protestant discourses were rooted in Catholic tradition, but repurposed for Protestant agendas—e.g., upholding Reformation ideals.
• Notable Quote:

  “Protestants have continually reshaped existing ideas about Muslims, inventing them in new contexts again and again in order to sway their audiences toward particular Protestant theological or even political purposes...”
  —Deanna Ferree Womack (21:32)

5. Gendered Stereotypes: Historical Trajectory (23:40–28:05)

• Womack traces early Protestant depictions of Muslim men as threatening and tyrannical, which persist to modern times.
• Images of Muslim women shift: Reform-era Protestants praised their modesty, but by the Enlightenment, veiling became a symbol of oppression and seclusion.
• These gendered images often mapped onto changing debates about the roles of women within Protestant contexts.
• Notable Moment:

  “When Luther and other reformers wrote about Muslim women, they depicted them as being modest and pious…Very different than the discourse on the veil that arises during the Enlightenment…”
  —Deanna Ferree Womack (26:36)

6. Women Missionaries and Their Writings (29:20–35:50)

• Women missionaries by the early 20th century played an increasingly visible role as authors and authorities on Muslim women’s lives, especially through women’s missionary magazines and children’s books.
• Publications like Annie Van Sommer’s Our Muslim Sisters and Daylight in the Harem simultaneously propagated stereotypes and revealed the diversity of Muslim women’s experiences.
• Notable Quotes:

  “Women were able to take the opportunity to write on this topic as authorities on the plight of Muslim women because of the separate spheres ideology…”
  —Deanna Ferree Womack (29:53)
  “These books directly stated that the lives of Muslim women everywhere were all the same…yet captured a diversity of Muslim women’s experiences and proved that the lives of Muslim women everywhere actually were not the same.”
  —Deanna Ferree Womack (33:38)

7. Missionary Literature for Children (37:27–42:29)

• Children’s books, story magazines, and even missionary paper dolls were instrumental in shaping young Protestants’ ideas about Islam and Muslims.
• Stories depicted Muslim children as sympathetic but “other” figures; missionary tales often humanized but also exoticized Muslim characters.
• Womack highlights the nuances and contradictory messages within children’s missionary literature—at once reinforcing stereotypes and creating points of cross-cultural identification.
• Notable Quote:

  “Children’s stories, for the most part, actually bridged some distance that Western audiences felt between themselves and the Muslim communities whom they had never met…some young readers might begin to see the Muslim characters as role models.”
  —Deanna Ferree Womack (40:49)

8. Visual and Material Culture: The Protestant Gaze (44:06–51:31)

• Missionaries represented their work and the people they encountered at home through innovative use of photography, postcards, costumes, and collected objects.
• These visual and performative practices reinforced both exoticization and occasional humanization of Muslims, perpetuating racial and gender hierarchies.
• Examples include staged performances in “native dress” and missionary museums; items such as prayer beads, clothing, and household objects were displayed to American audiences.
• Notable Quotes:

  “Images, material objects, and missionary costumes could be used to reinforce stereotypes…But these visual and material collections could also be used to teach and to humanize.”
  —Deanna Ferree Womack (48:54)
  “Missionaries like Trotter often treated the anonymous individuals in these photos as specimens…and even used the term specimen in her image captions.”
  —Deanna Ferree Womack (47:22)

9. Contemporary Implications: Islamophobia and Interfaith Dialogue (51:31–55:17)

• The book’s final chapter connects historical patterns to present-day Islamophobia and offers hope for change through interfaith reflection.
• Dr. Womack urges confronting gendered presuppositions and unconscious biases as prerequisites for authentic Christian-Muslim engagement.
• She highlights that images and attitudes have changed over time—suggesting the possibility for further transformation.
• Notable Quotes:

  “We really need to deal with our presuppositions around gender and religion...prejudices against Muslim men and misperceptions about Muslim women remain significant barriers to American Christian Muslim relations today.”
  —Deanna Ferree Womack (52:44)
  “Because such images and presuppositions have changed over time, they can change again. And today we can play a role in changing these ideas for the better.”
  —Deanna Ferree Womack (55:08)

10. Scholarly Contributions and Future Research (55:43–60:09)

• Womack calls for mainstreaming women’s and gender history in accounts of mission and world Christianity, moving beyond separate literatures for "women" and for "mission."
• She encourages attention to material religion and questions about the public relevance and application of historical research.
• Notable Quotes:

  “Women’s missionary history is mission history...Mission historians automatically [should] think about gender specifically as a category of inquiry.”
  —Deanna Ferree Womack (55:54)
  “What bearing does our research have on the way that we choose to live now?”
  —Deanna Ferree Womack (57:34)

11. Dr. Womack’s Next Project (58:35–60:09)

• Her new research focuses on Middle Eastern Christian migration and church formation in the Americas, spanning multiple traditions and engaging in both archival and ethnographic work.
• Notable Quote:

  “The book is going to explore the histories and the contemporary realities of churches from all five Middle Eastern Christian families…to bring to light the histories of migration from the Middle East of these communities and the establishment of their churches.”
  —Deanna Ferree Womack (59:12)

Memorable Moments & Notable Quotes (with Timestamps)

• “I wanted to gain a better understanding and ultimately to challenge the anti-Muslim prejudices pervading Protestant culture...”
  —Deanna Ferree Womack (12:08)

• “Protestants have continually reshaped existing ideas about Muslims, inventing them in new contexts again and again in order to sway their audiences toward particular Protestant theological or even political purposes...”
  —Deanna Ferree Womack (21:32)

• “Children’s stories, for the most part, actually bridged some distance that Western audiences felt between themselves and the Muslim communities whom they had never met…”
  —Deanna Ferree Womack (40:49)

• “We really need to deal with our presuppositions around gender and religion...prejudices against Muslim men and misperceptions about Muslim women remain significant barriers to American Christian Muslim relations today.”
  —Deanna Ferree Womack (52:44)

• “Because such images and presuppositions have changed over time, they can change again. And today we can play a role in changing these ideas for the better.”
  —Deanna Ferree Womack (55:08)

Conclusion

Dr. Deanna Ferree Womack’s Re-Inventing Islam uncovers the deep roots of American Islamophobia within Anglo-Protestant missionary culture, especially as manifested through gendered images and stereotypes. By examining not only texts but also visual and material artifacts, and by foregrounding women’s significant roles, Womack provides a vital corrective to the existing history of Christian-Muslim relations and mission. The episode concludes with a call for continued scholarly attention to gender, material culture, and the practical implications of historical study for contemporary interfaith engagement.

Important Timestamps

• Introduction and Dr. Womack’s Background: 09:03
• Genesis of the Book & Main Questions: 11:38
• Research Sources and Methodology: 15:26
• Reinventing Islam—Theory: 21:28
• Gendered Protestant Tropes: 23:40
• Anglo-Protestant Women Authors: 29:20
• Annie Van Sommer & Early 20th Century Texts: 32:03
• Missionary Children’s Literature: 37:27
• Visual and Material Representations: 44:06
• Contemporary Islamophobia & Dialogue: 51:31
• Scholarly Implications: 55:43
• Future Research: 58:35

Recommended for anyone interested in history of Christianity, missions, American religious history, gender studies, and the complex roots of interreligious relations.