Paradoxes of piety in young Muslim American women: Public perception and individual realities
Item
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Title
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Paradoxes of piety in young Muslim American women: Public perception and individual realities
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Identifier
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d_2009_2013:f26ddd2b23f6:11806
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identifier
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12396
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Creator
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Mahon, Emily H.,
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Contributor
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Mehdi Bozorgmehr
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Date
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2013
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Social research | Religion | Ethnic studies | Islamic studies | hijab | Islam | Religions identity
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Abstract
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Drawing on both the Pew Research Center's Muslim American Survey of 2007 and a series of original in-depth interviews with young Muslim American women in northern New Jersey, this dissertation seeks to learn more about these women and their motivations for covering and its meaning to them.;The theoretical framework for this study begins with Weber's commitment the interplay of religion and society and his perspective of Verstehen , which privileges the perceptions of the subjects. It uses the lenses offered by Goffman and Gole for understanding the strategic uses of stigma; theories of assimilation building from Gordan and Gans to Kasinitz, Mollenkopf, and Waters to Dixon; and the insights of Giddens about the nature of institutional change.;The study found that covered women are more likely to attend mosques frequently, to identify as Muslim, to be single, and to be conservative in their religious views (separation of sexes, women cannot lead prayers, scarf is required). The survey finding that most coverers think that Islam does not favor men is echoed in interviewees' argument that "equal" treatment does not mean "same;" they view themselves as feminists who affirm the role of woman at the center of the Muslim family. While not embracing American identity, the interviewees turned away from ancestral culture as either outmoded or oppressive. The Muslim-denseness of their environments gives comfort that dissipates as they bridge to wider spheres. And finally, covering was described repeatedly as a "completion" of self and a reminder of piety to both the outside world and to themselves.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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2009_2013.csv
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Sociology
