Muslim Women Essay -- Immigration Islam Essays Papers

Moslem Women When I chose the topic of Americanization of immigrant Moslem women, I think I expected a straightforward, easy to categorize, research project. On the contrary, what I found was surprisingly different. While I think of myself as a liberal, open-minded female, this project gave me a very new lieu on myself and umteen of my views as advantageously. Muslim women living in the get together States are quite honestly more(prenominal) diverse, more complex, more structured, more contemplative, and more culturally intuitive than I could have ever imagined in my limited experience and knowledge of them. The Americanization I sought to illustrate turn out to resemble something closer to a religio-cultural tug-of-war than the predicted homogeneous transformation, or adaptation, to our westward society and religious orientation. The women whose lives I read about (individually as well as in group studies) seemed without exception to be in a constant state of tension from n umerous external and internal sources. The many token examples of varying degrees of Americanization- or in some cases, resistance to this phenomenon- included, entirely were not limited to, wanting to uphold traditional homeland customs duty and practices asserting new freedoms to take on more responsibility in religious and political arenas working to improve traditional inadequacies of U.S. mosques to better oblige women of faith the dilemma of appropriate dressing for religious and professional communities challenge traditional and current marriage practices and the difficulties associated with them and maybe most significantly, combating the general naivet, or even outright discriminatory ignorance of Americans about Islam. Considering the fact that Islam is the fastest growth religion in the world (between new births and the increasing number of conversions), and the get together States is arguably the most influential and powerful country in the world, the prevail of t hese examples must, and will, be given some extra attention at the nullify of this paper. Finding Balance Between Islamic Tradition and U.S. CultureAlthough some every source I consulted stressed the progressive nature of the book of account and its ability to adapt to changing society, I found that a principal(prenominal) thrust of the American Muslim communities was best exemplified in a quote from Carol L. Anway, that women strive toward b... ...usaf Ali. 12-18. A.H. Jaffor Ullah, Ph.D, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2001. .Anway, Carol L. American Women Choosing Islam. Muslims on the Americanization pathway? Ed. Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad and John L. Esposito. Oxford, NY Oxford University Press, 2000. 145-160.Aswad, Barbara. Attitudes of Immigrant Women and Men in the Dearborn Area Toward Womens Employment and Welfare. Muslim Communities in North America. Ed. Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad and Jane Idleman Smith. Albany, NY State University of New York Press, 1994. 501-519.Hathout, Samer. Cha llenges Facing American Muslim Women. http//www.islamfortoday.com/americanmuslimwomen.htm. Hermansen, Marcia K. Two-Way Acculteration Muslim Women in America Between Individual choice (Liminality) and Community Affiliation (Communitas). The Muslims of America. Ed. Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad. Oxford, NY Oxford University Press, 1991. 188-201.Smith, Jane I. Womens Issues in American Islam. The Duncan Black MacDonald have-to doe with for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations. Hartford Seminary, Hartford CT, 2002. http//macdonald.hartsem.edu/smithart1.htm.