Racialized Arab Femininities and Masculinities: A Multi-Age, Multisited Ethnography and Call for Activism

• In Event: 42.083 - Roundtable Session 17
  In Roundtable Session: 42.083-20 - Social Justice Leadership Across Contexts: Frameworks, Tensions, and Perspectives

Abstract

To understand the U.S. schooling experiences of Saudi students and their families across gender and age, we conducted a multi-sited, multi-age ethnography with 5 Saudi Arabian families living in the Midwestern region of the United States with one or both parents pursuing higher education. We considered two cases: Sarah, a 40-year-old undergraduate student, and her son Jasem, 14 years old, and events that happened while studying in a rural area. The results of the study highlight that their experiences occurred within a framework of racialized political and media discourses of Arab masculinities and femininities. We focus on the implicitness and explicitness of these racialized gender identities across age and the implications for leadership and administration to provide equitable educational experiences.

Authors

• Youmna Diri Rieder, The Ohio State University - Columbus

• Ryan Rieder, Ohio University - Athens