Date of Award

3-19-2015

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

School of Communication

First Advisor

John R. Baldwin

Abstract

Due to the growth of Middle Easterners living in America, the study of interethnic

romantic relationships among Arab American women is crucial. The primary objective of this study is to achieve a deeper understanding through in-depth respondent interviews about the Arab American woman's interethnic romantic relationships, familial relationships, and platonic relationships specifically, to discover her use of identity negotiation and management with use of thematic analysis. The pressure for an Arab American woman to find a partner based on parental guidelines creates this notion of living "two separate worlds," thus, affecting the negotiation of her multiple identities. While some Arab American parents were more open to the idea of their daughters marrying interethnically, several parents were opposed to the idea, for the fear of losing their Middle Eastern culture. Specifically, the data revealed that Arab American women who date interethnically portray their multiple identities, depending on who they are surrounded by. Additionally, the interethnic romantic relationship not only affects the enactment of the Arab woman's identities, but her partner's identities as well.

Comments

Imported from ProQuest Dababneh_ilstu_0092N_10489.pdf

DOI

http://doi.org/10.30707/ETD2015.Dababneh.S

Page Count

120

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Communication Commons

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