At a time when "difference" is being actively diluted in the service of standardisation and conservative views of nationhood, stories about difference, and their semiotic and multimodal elements, provide rich grounds for critical engagement. This is especially the case with stories about highly visible cultural symbols, such as the…

Islamophobia and anti-Muslim racism pose a unique experience, especially when one is readily identifiable as a Muslim through hijab, a head covering worn by some Muslim women. Although frequently conflated with racial identity, Muslim women are uniquely impacted by the intersection of race, gender, and religious identity. In this paper, I explore…

Muslim women are portrayed with a dichotomous image: on one side, as the victims of the patriarchal Muslim men and, on the other, as the violent associates of the Muslim terrorist (Maruoka, 2008). The act of head covering, the most visible Muslim-identified marker, has thus assumed an outsized space in research of Muslim women. However, while…

As teacher identity construction is "a complex matter of the social and individual, of discourse and practice, of reification and participation, of similarity and difference, of agency and structure, of fixity and transgression, of the singular and the multiple" (Clarke, 2009), this study explores the connection between the personal and…

This study aimed to explore the magazines and topics that female college students like to read, and the topics that senior and junior high school reading textbooks contain. Findings of questionnaire-surveys with female college students at King Saud University revealed that 77% of the students read women's magazines; 77% like to read about fashion…

The number of students from Saudi Arabia studying in the United States is increasing; this study focused on understanding Saudi women studying in the United States. A qualitative phenomenological approach was used to address the main research question: What are the perceptions of Saudi women on their experiences as international college students…

Young women's relationship with physical activity has been explored extensively, yet the focus is often upon young women who are White. This paper considers South Asian, Muslim young women's experiences of physical activity and how these are influenced by family. A "middle ground" feminist approach is used, drawing upon the work of Hill…

The purpose of this study was to understand the college students' perceptions of slut-shaming discourse. The research indicated that there was a strong correlation between cultural expectations and slut-shaming. According to the results, the perceptions of slut-shaming are influenced by aspects such as: class, culture, media, gender, feminism,…

In this article the author uses the term "conservative dancers" to describe dancers who live in communities or families that are socially, culturally, or religiously conservative with ideological consistency, adhering to traditional values that they deem to be moral (e.g., modest dress, clear gender roles and separation, purity, family…

The construction of social identity is an interdisciplinary term, which is a favourite topic for many scholars worldwide. Religion and identity are intertwined regarding the concept of identity construction. In Iran, this relation can best be seen through English as a Foreign Language (EFL) textbooks. To achieve this, this study investigates the…

This qualitative study examines the educational and cultural experiences of 12 covered female students attending Turkish state universities in the academic year 2014-2015 and compares how they engage both academically and culturally on university campuses after the lifting of the headscarf ban. Findings indicate that covered students seem to…

This paper explores the participation of Muslim girls in Health, Physical Education (HPE) and Sports in Brisbane Muslim and non-Muslim schools. The debate of Muslim women's' participation in sports is strongly entwined with firmly held beliefs inherited through culture, religion, politics and tradition regarding the female body. Specifically, this…

One aspect of the call for democracy in the recent Arab region uprisings is the issue of women's rights and gender equality. Three cultural and ideological forces have continued to shape the gender discourse in Arab Muslim-majority societies. They are: "Islamic" teaching and local traditions concerning women's roles in a given society;…

This dissertation examines how women in the Muslim Student Association (MSA) at the University of Colorado at Boulder respond to the negative stereotypes of Islam and Muslims that have proliferated since 9/11. The media's positioning of Muslim women as "backwards" and "un-American" compels MSA women to construct an extensive…

Previous research highlights the continuing relevance of family culture in explaining educational inequalities in Turkey, especially patriarchal beliefs and practices that discourage investment in the education of girls. We extend that research by introducing two much-debated, but empirically untested, aspects of family culture--parental…