Young Muslim women: the ambivalences of speaking out

ABSTRACT

This paper explores how a small group of young Australian Muslim women are engaging with the discourses of gender, religion and culture in their lives. It draws on data gathered from a study that evaluated aprogramme designed to support learning and public action for human rights. The paper highlights these young women’s experiences of the double bind of racism and patriarchy in their lives around familial/community and public ideas about what it means to be a good Muslim woman. In light of this burden of representation, the paper draws attention to the ambivalences of responsibility and risk the young women express about speaking out against the issues that concern them. We conclude with a consideration of the significance community-driven and localized advocacy represents in Muslim women moving beyond the double bind.

KEYWORDS:

• Muslim women
• gender
• religion
• double bind
• speaking out

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. ‘Syria’ and ‘Palestine’ of course refer to contemporary conflicts, while Manus and Nauru are shorthand for Australia’s offshore detention facilities in those locations for asylum-seekers who arrive on Australian territory by boat.

Additional information

Funding

The research was supported by REDI (Research for Educational Impact), Deakin University.

Notes on contributors

Amanda Keddie

Amanda Keddie is a Professor of Education within the Research for Educational Impact (REDI) Strategic Research Centre at Deakin University. Her published work examines the broad gamut of schooling processes, practices and conditions that can impact on the pursuit of social justice in schools. She is the author of Supporting and Educating Young Muslim Women: Stories from Australia and the UK (Routledge)

ORCiD ID: 0000-0001-6111-0615

Taghreed Jamal Al Deen

Taghreed Jamal Al Deen is an associate research fellow for the UNESCO Chair, Cultural Diversity and Social Justice at the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalization. Her research focuses on inequality in education, class, gender, and ethnic and religious diversity.

Shakira Hussein

Shakira Hussein is an honorary fellow based at National Centre of Islamic Studies at The University of Melbourne. She is the author of From Victims to Suspects: Muslim Women Since 9/11 (Yale University Press).

ORCID ID: 0000-0001-5903-5847

Alexandra Miftah Russ

Alexandra Miftah Russ, is a casework manager and researcher with the Australian Muslim Women’s Centre for Human Rights. She has worked within grass-roots community organizations for over 2 decades, focusing on rights, equity and access for women and children.