Ten Years Post 9/11: Using face-Negotiation and co-cultural theory to explore the experiences of a cohort of veiled and un-veiled Middle Eastern Muslim Women in a mid-size urban city

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to explore the use of face- negotiation and co-cultural theories in establishing how veiled and un-veiled female Muslim college students communicate ten years after 9/11. In this case, this study wants to explore and understand the different ways through which female Muslims negotiate their lives in American society. This is because there may be a lot of negative perceptions about Muslims as they are considered as terrorists who caused a lot of losses of life and properties on September 11, 2001. In this respect, therefore, this study seeks to understand the communication skills used by Middle-Eastern female Muslims as subordinates in a dominant societal structure. The analysis of communication interactions involved in this study takes two approaches: co-cultural communication theory and negotiation communication theory. There is much hope in finding out how female Muslims, despite the fact that they are perceived negatively and as belonging to a terror group, are able to communicate as subordinates in a dominant societal structure. Conducting a study in the United States of America is very good, and it gives hope of accurate and relevant information as this country is very prone to terrorist attacks. In most cases, these interactions occur in their every day lives and at schools. In education institutions, students come from different social, cultural, and religious backgrounds, and hence, the rate of intercultural interaction is very high. Additionally, in the American society, people communicate differently from different cultural backgrounds, and hence, female Muslims usually face challenges in interacting with their fellow society members. It should be noted that inter-cultural communication occurs between members of different cultural groups. In this case, community members achieve mutual understanding and establish a reciprocal communication or relationship as a result of their identity orientation.