Place of publication: United States, Ann Arbor; ISBN=978-1-321-02763-1
M.S.
Sociology
Iowa State University
2014
Over the past decade, and particularly since the September 11 th terrorist attacks, the Muslim community in the United States has experienced an increased level of social and religious scrutiny. This unfortunate incident has fundamentally changed the way the American society views Muslims, especially Muslim women who wear the veil or hijab in public. Muslim women have experienced various instances of discrimination including people trying to remove their hijab, and/or name calling. A unique aspect of Muslim women in the US is that they not only confront the stigma of gender, race, ethnicity and religion, but that which is attached to Islamic dress as well. Despite some of these problems, however, the experiences of Muslim women in the United States remains one of the least researched topics in sociology. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the social and familial factors that affect Muslim women's decision to wear the hijab and how their families react to their decision to wear the hijab.