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ETD Abstract Container

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Multimodal Expressions of Young Arab Muslim American Women

Akl, Amira
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1404692026

Abstract Details

2014, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, English (Rhetoric and Writing) PhD.
Arab American Muslim women often struggle to maintain conflicting identities. They feel pressure to perform the traditional roles of being a mild-mannered daughter, obedient wife, and strict mother (in that order); however, they are also often trying to remain true to their newer, less traditional, American(ized) identities as individuals, as sexually liberated, and as women of the workforce. In my dissertation, entitled, Multimodal Expressions of Young Arab Muslim American Women, and advised by Dr. Kristine Blair, I explore, through ethnographic and feminist methods, the personal struggles of Arab Muslim American women. Although they have many differences in age, academic interests, family backgrounds, and life experiences, they all struggle with barriers caused by binary oppositions that are imposed upon them by family members who uphold traditional, conservative Arab and/or Islamic cultural and religious values. Many use the Internet as a space to express these struggles. This study discusses identity, discrimination, sexuality, and gender, while it seeks to answer these questions: how do Arab American Muslim women perform femininity? How do they disrupt the patriarchal expectations of Arab Muslim womanhood in order to express personal and political desire and dissent in America? How does technology provide Arab Muslim American women with sites for resistance and exploration, and what modes of delivery ultimately contribute to their expressions? Drawing on my personal and academic experiences as an Arab American, a student, a teacher, a researcher, and a feminist, I give concrete examples that describe some of the specific cultural influences that hinder Arab American women in their development into/as responsible sexual beings, and I argue that Arab American women, especially those who have needs and desires beyond those expected of them in Arab and Islamic culture, are forced to choose between satisfying their individual desires and satisfying the expectations of their family and community. My dissertation explores the rhetorical choices Arab Muslim American women make to navigate this difficult space.
Kristine Blair, PhD (Advisor)
Sue Carter Wood, PhD (Committee Member)
Ellen Berry, PhD (Committee Member)
Madeline Duntley, PhD (Committee Member)
218 p.
American Studies; Composition; Education; English As A Second Language; Ethnic Studies; Families and Family Life; Gender; Gender Studies; Higher Education; International Relations; Islamic Studies; Middle Eastern Studies; Multicultural Education; Multilingual Education; Rhetoric; Sociology; Teaching; Womens Studies
digital; Arab; Muslim; visual; rhetoric; rhetorical; multimodal; expression; facebook; humor; meme; Arabish; language; code switching; language acquisition; composition; gender; discrimination; racism; technology; immigrant experience;

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Akl, A. (2014). Multimodal Expressions of Young Arab Muslim American Women [Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1404692026

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Akl, Amira. Multimodal Expressions of Young Arab Muslim American Women. 2014. Bowling Green State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1404692026.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Akl, Amira. "Multimodal Expressions of Young Arab Muslim American Women." Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1404692026

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1404692026
11,673
© 2014, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.