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They would know how to defy any patriarchal oppression wielded over them in the name of religion.
In fact, a number of reasons motivated the choice of these particular contemporary writers for this project. First, their writings mark a notable shift in themes and forms from their predecessors. Whereas earlier Arab American writers tried to claim a space within white American culture through various strategies of assimilation, which often involved a breaking away from traditions and homelands, the Arab American women writers in this study investigate the question of what it means to live as a hybrid in all its complexity. They call for communication and coexistence, which differ from assimilation. They believe in “acculturation”—a term that has various connotations in social science literature, initially referring to the process by which colonized or dominated native populations adapted to the ways and values of their oppressors. The term has also come to indicate the adaptation process of immigrant populations in a new setting. These writers insist, however, that adaptation to a new culture does not mean losing oneself or giving up one’s own values to pass or gain acceptance.
The work of these women writers also shows a greater commitment to the political, economic, and social issues facing contemporary Arab women. Being socially conscious and politically engaged in current debates and struggles plaguing their respective societies, these women write as committed artists with a keen grasp of local and global economic and sociopolitical dynamics. They neither deny nor ignore the turbulent Arab American relationship, which adds to their struggle to claim an Arab American identity. Loyal to the United States but also proud of their heritage, Arab Americans have sometimes felt alienated by the U.S. government’s anti-Arab bias and by a society that seems hostile to their presence.