| The journey of this study connected my vision for social justice to my long lived struggles with the hijab discourse in Islamic Arab cultures. This study explored how four Muslim young girls expressed and negotiated the meanings of their bodily experiences. This study took place in a local Muslim community in two southwestern US border towns. I worked with four Muslim young girls (age 15-17). Data was collected over a period of six months—June 2005 to December 2005. Data sources were multiple and included: (a) task sheets; (b) 17 transcripts of audio recordings (22 hours); (c) 35 emails; (d) girls' private journals; (e) photos the girls took; (f) photos I took of the girls; (g) 18 hours of audio recorded field notes; (h) 18 documents of field notes; and (i) the body collage and the girls' individual scrap books. My interpretations are divided in two sections. One, the entry to the local Muslim community and through the guards of the girls' lives was unique, difficult, and uncertain. Two, the girls showed how conforming to the hijab discourse hindered their opportunities to learning. Working with the researcher, the girls took advantage of the spaces and activities provided in the study and showed their resistance to the hijab discourse . The girls explored their agency, deveiled the hijab discourse, and experienced themselves in many new ways. |
