Emotional geographies of veiling: the meanings of the hijab for five Palestinian American Muslim women

Abstract

This article explores experiential and emotional dimensions of veiling practices, the ‘emotional geographies of veiling,’ in relation to Muslim women's community activism. By approaching the hijab as a symbol with both discursive effects and personal meaning – a psycho-social space – this article offers important insights into the intertwined, complex processes of internal embodiments and public manifestations of Muslim female identities. Based on the analysis of life narratives of five Palestinian American Muslim women in Milwaukee, a medium-sized city in the American Midwest, this article comes to the conclusion that public visibility through veiling entails both socio-spatial and emotional/internal processes. The analysis of these women's narratives explores how veiling practices can guide personal piety and self-transformation, and contributes to the solidification of a politically and religiously identifiable community.

Las geografías emocionales del uso del velo: los significados del hijab para cinco mujeres musulmanas estadounidenses palestinas

Este artículo explora las dimensiones experimentales y emocionales de las prácticas del velo, las ‘geografías emocionales del uso del velo,’ en relación al activismo comunitario de las mujeres musulmanas. Abordando el hijab como un símbolo con efectos discursivos y significados personales, –un espacio psico-social– este artículo ofrece importantes perspectivas sobre los entrelazados y complejos procesos de encarnaciones internas y manifestaciones públicas de identidades musulmanas femeninas. Basado en el análisis de las narrativas de vidas de cinco mujeres musulmanas estadounidenses palestinas en Milwaukee, una ciudad de tamaño medio en el Medio Oeste de Estados Unidos, este artículo llega a la conclusión de que la visibilidad pública a través del uso del velo comprende tanto a procesos socioespaciales como emocionales/internos. El análisis de las narrativas de las mujeres explora cómo las prácticas del uso del velo pueden guiar la piedad personal y la autotransformación, y contribuir a la solidificación de una comunidad religiosamente y políticamente identificable.

蒙面纱的情绪地理：面纱（hijab）对五位巴勒斯坦裔美国穆斯林女性的意义

本文探讨蒙面纱的经验与情绪面向，意即所谓的“蒙面纱的情绪地理”，及其与穆斯林女性社群倡议主义的关联性。透过将面纱视为同时具有论述效应与个人意义的象徵——一个心理—社会空间，本文对理解穆斯林女性认同的内在体现与公共展现的纠结、复杂过程，提供了重要的洞见。本文根据五位来自美国中西部一个中型城市密尔瓦基的美国穆斯林女性生活叙事的分析，达成以下结论：透过蒙面纱获得的公共可见性，同时引发了社会—空间与情感／内在的过程。对这些女性叙事的分析，探讨了蒙面纱的实践如何引导个人虔诚与自我转化，并促成了政治及宗教上可被辨识的社群之团结。

Keywords::

• American Muslim women
• hijab
• visibility
• Islamic activism
• Islam in the USA, emotional geographies of veiling

Palabras claves::

• mujeres musulmanas estadounidenses
• hijab
• visibilidad
• activismo islámico
• islamismo en los Estados Unidos
• geografías emocionales del uso del velo

关键词:::

• 美国穆斯林女性
• 面纱
• 可见性
• 伊斯兰倡议主义
• 伊斯兰在美国
• 蒙面纱的情绪地理

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a Graduate School Research Committee Award from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. The author would like to thank the anonymous reviewers and the editor, Lynda Johnston, for their constructive comments. The author appreciates the feedback from Judith Kenny, Daniel Linger, and Andrea Westlund on earlier drafts of this article, and would also like to thank the women who participated in this study.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Anna Mansson McGinty

Anna Mansson McGinty is an Assistant Professor of Geography and Women's Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Her research interests center on Muslim identities in the West, gender in Islam, Islamic feminisms, and person-centered ethnography. Her book Becoming Muslim: Western Women's Conversions to Islam explores the identity formation of Swedish and American female converts to Islam with focus on life story and conversion narrative. In her current project, she focuses her studies on gender identity and community activism among Muslim women in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She is also involved in Muslim Milwaukee Project, a community partnership with Muslim leaders, which aims to document and map the diversity and complexity of a significant Muslim population in the greater Milwaukee area, looking at basic demographics as well as issues such as healthcare, community involvement, and experience of discrimination.