Arab American Women: Representation and Refusal

514 Pages·2021·3.685 MB·English

by  Michael W. Suleiman (editor), Suad Joseph (editor), Louise Cainkar (editor)

arab american women
CritiCal arab ameriCan StudieS
Carol W. N. Fadda, Series Editor
Praise for Arab American Women: Representation and Refusal
“This impressive and beautifully organized volume breaks new ground in defining
and crystallizing the field of Arab American women studies. . . . A must read and a
key reference point in the field.”
—Mounira Maya Charrad, associate professor, University of Texas in Austin
“With rigor, precision, and care, this highly-anticipated anthology amplifies and
builds upon decades of multidisciplinary work in Arab American Studies. . . . A
touchstone collection!”
—Keith P. Feldman, author of A Shadow over Palestine: The Imperial Life of
Race in America
“This thought-provoking collection will leave readers with a deeper understanding of
issues including immigration, war, surveillance, and community. It will spark impor-
tant conversations about the interplay of ethnicity, class, and gender for many years
to come.”
—Nadine Sinno, associate professor of Arabic, Virginia Polytechnic Institute
“Through innovative approaches to archival research, keen analysis, and incisive
theoretical frameworks, this collection offers new insights into the lives and labor
of Arab American women, the gendered discourses about them, and their feminist
activism and literary production. . . . an indispensable contribution to Arab American
studies.”
—Pauline Homsi Vinson, cofounder, Arab American Studies Association
“A comprehensive and long-overdue look into the history and ongoing struggles for
Arab American women at the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, class, and ever-
shifting transnational locations. . . . With new archives, new analyses, and an unpar-
alleled collection of scholars, this volume is a critical intervention into the growing
field of Arab American studies.”
—Matthew Jaber Stiffler, research manager, Arab American National Museum
“An outstanding volume on Arab American Women—their labor histories, writ-
ing, activism and struggles. This volume is indispensable for scholars of gender and
immigration.”
— Fida Adely, Clovis and Hala Maksoud Chair in Arab Studies,
Georgetown University
Arab American
Women
Representation
and Refusal
Edited by Michael W. Suleiman,
Suad Joseph, and Louise Cainkar
Syracuse University Press
Copyright © 2021 by Syracuse University Press
Syracuse, New York 13244-5290
All Rights Reserved
First Edition 2021
21 22 23 24 25 26 6 5 4 3 2 1
∞ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements
of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
For a listing of books published and distributed by Syracuse University Press, visit
https://press.syr.edu.
ISBN: 9 78-0-8156-3684-7 (hardcover)
978-0-8156-3709-7 (paperback)
978-0-8156-5513-8 (e-book)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Suleiman, Michael W., editor. | Joseph, Suad, editor. | Cainkar,
Louise, editor.
Title: Arab American women : representation and refusal / edited by
Michael W. Suleiman, Suad Joseph, and Louise Cainkar.
Description: First edition. | Syracuse : Syracuse University Press, [2021] |
Series: Critical Arab American studies | Includes bibliographical references. |
Summary: “This rigorous, multidisciplinary volume on Arab American women
includes contributions from scholars and activists in in a diverse array of fields,
including history, sociology, anthropology, literary studies, media studies,
women and gender studies, and creative writing”— Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020037001 (print) | LCCN 2020037002 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780815636847 (hardback) | ISBN 9780815637097 (paperback) |
ISBN 9780815655138 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Arab American women—Social conditions. | Arab Americans—
Ethnic identity. | Arab Americans—History. | Sex role—United States.
Classification: LCC E184.A65 A67 2020 (print) | LCC E184.A65 (ebook) |
DDC 305.48/8927073—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020037001
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020037002
Manufactured in the United States of America
Contents
Preface I: Friendly Commitments and Acknowledgments
Suad JoSeph ix
Preface II: Enduring Commitment to Arab American Studies
miC hael W. Suleiman xiii
Tribute to Michael W. Suleiman
Suad JoSeph xv
1. Arab American Women: Intersectional Genealogies and Trajectories
Suad JoSeph 1
Part One. Early History
2. A Brief History of Arab American Women,
1890s to World War II
miC hael W. Suleiman 21
Part tw O. Vanguard Generation
3. Mapping the Archive for Arab American Women’s Labor
in the New York Metropolitan Area, 1880–1930
JeSS bier 55
4. “Keeping Us Lebanese”: The Role of Unmarried Daughters
of Ottoman-Era Lebanese Immigrants in New England
amy e. roWe 84
5. Rose and the Four Sisters of Fate
GreGory orfalea 114
6. An Archive of Difference: Syrian Women, the Peddling Economy,
and US Social Welfare, 1880–1935
Charlotte Karem albre Cht 134
vi ContentS
Part three. Activism: Literary
7. From Lebanon to Louisiana: ‘Afifa Karam and Arab Women’s
Writing in the Diaspora
Sarah m. a. Gualtieri 169
8. Transfigurations: Homespace in Two Arab American Women’s Novels
liSa Suhair m aJaJ 189
9. Scheherazade and the Limits of Inclusive Politics
in Arab American Literature
meJdulene b. Shomali 214
Part FOur. Activism: Political
10. Second-Wave Arab American Feminist Activism
The Story of the Feminist Arab-American Network
Carol haddad 247
11. Daughters of Fatima: Iraqi Shi‘a Women in the United States
bridGet b lomfield 282
12. An Anti-imperialist Transnational Approach to Middle East
Women’s Studies
nadine naber 299
13. Forging Her Own Path: An Interview with Scholar-Activist
Elaine Hagopian
umayyah Cable 311
Part Five. Representations
14. Arab America Gender Representations
in the New York Times, 1851–1919
Suad JoSeph 329
15. Evoking Sympathy for the Muslim Woman after 9/11
evelyn alSultany 365
16. Desert Is Just Another Word for Freedom
amira JarmaKani 386
Part Six. War and “National Security”
17. Ethnic Citizenship in a Time of Crisis: Lebanese American
Women in the War of 2006
rita Stephan 411
Contents vii
18. Dangerous Women / Women in Danger: Gendered
Impacts of Hate and Repression, 9/11 and Beyond
louiSe CainK ar 432
19. Gendering the Security State: Family and Community Impacts
of Arab Detentions in the Northwest United States
thereSe Saliba 462
Contributors 483

Preface I
Friendly Commitments and Acknowledgments
Suad Joseph
in early marCh 2010, just days before his untimely death on March 12,
Michael W. Suleiman called and asked me for two favors. He asked me to
work with Elaine Hagopian and Lisa Suhair Majaj to organize a conference
on Arab American studies at the Arab American National Museum in Dear-
born, Michigan. He did not want flowers, plaques, and other tributes. Even
in death he wanted to continue supporting the pioneering work that had been
his life’s passion—the development of the field of Arab American studies.
Inviting Nadine Naber to join the organizers, Elaine, Lisa, and I did fulfill
that promise to Michael in October 2011 with the conference “Contemporary
Research in Arab American Studies: New Trends and Critical Perspectives.
A Conference in Honor of Michael W. Suleiman,” held at his beloved Arab
American National Museum in Dearborn.
In an even more amazing tribute to Michael, the energy and enthusi-
asm of the scholars who assembled at that conference inspired and led to
the founding of the Arab American Studies Association (AASA) in 2012,
cofounded by Rita Stephan, Randa Kayyali, Pauline Homsi Vinson, and me.
True to Michael’s memory and his work, AASA organized three more con-
ferences on Arab American studies at the Arab American National Museum
in 2014 and 2017 and one in San Diego in April 2020 (postponed due to
the pandemic in 2021).
The second favor that Michael asked of me in that phone call just a few
days before his death was to complete the volume from the conference “Arab
American Women” he had organized at Kansas State University, Manhattan,
in March 2009. He had submitted the full manuscript to Syracuse Univer-
sity Press (SUP) but had not received the reviews. He knew completing the
ix