The present study provides an understanding of how married, tertiary educated and employed
Muslim females negotiate their identities across contexts within a multicultural environment, such as
post-1994 contemporary Johannesburg. An additional facet of this study was to gain insight into
the construction of Muslim female identity by the husbands of the women in the study. The
commonly portrayed images of Muslim women are unflattering and ill-conceived and depict the
Muslim woman as one who is veiled, oppressed, secluded and submissive. In South Africa however,
Muslim women have been able to participate in secular education and employment opportunities
and practice their religion within a democratic dispensation that is responsive to issues of gender.
In order to obtain an understanding of the nuances that underpin Muslim female self-constructions
and constructions by their husbands, the study was approached from a social constructionist
epistemology. It is the assumption of the researcher that identities are thus in part created
discursively, and for the purpose of this study, the constructions of identity of the participants were
analysed using a discourse analysis methodology. Interviews were conducted with four Muslim
couples. Social facets such as gender, race, religion and globalisation were used as topics in order
to understand how participants constructed Muslim women’s identity. The Muslim women who
participated in the study appear to inhabit different subject positions in their daily lives. The study
highlighted that identity may not be fixed or stable, rather a function of relational or contextual
positions. Both the women and men in this study emphasised an Islamic identification while
distancing themselves from a cultural identification. The oppression of Muslim women was
relegated to the realm of culture. In prioritising an Islamic identity the participants have created a
space where they are able to construct an alternative identity for Muslim women that enables
them these women the freedom to access secular spaces or what may be viewed as the public
sphere of men.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/6611 |
| Date | 04 March 2009 |
| Creators | Sader, Farzana |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
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