Carrying the Burden of a Culture: Bargaining With Patriarchy and the Gendered Reputation of Arab American Women

Abstract

This article analyzes how Arab American women understand cultural expectations that govern their lives and bodies, as they grapple with tension between U.S. and Arab cultural narratives. Using data from 20 in-depth interviews with second-generation Arab American women, this study shows how they draw on traditional familial narratives of honor and reputation, (re)interpret acculturation into the United States, and bargain with patriarchy to (re)shape their views on gender, family, and community. Reputation is embedded in everyday language; their narratives unmask fears of scandal when they cross boundaries based on rigid gender expectations about sexual activity, marriage, and divorce. As immigrant women experience new pathways to navigate U.S. and Arab culture, new attitudes toward gender may reshape normative expectations toward gender and family. Grounded in the lived experiences of Arab American women, this study extends scholarship on gendered expectations within the family and community, challenging the cultural policing of women.