ARAB WOMEN IN SINGAPORE : ETHNIC CONSCIOUSNESS AND BOUNDRY MAINTENANCE

Abstract

This study aims to explore the meanings attached to the salience of maintaining and presenting an 'Arab identity' by the women of the community. It specifically seeks to examine the 'role' of women in processes of boundary maintenance and their perceptions of such a 'role'. By examining the significance of 'ethnic identification' for these women, it will be established that the dominant portrayal of women as 'mere instruments' of boundary maintenance do not adequately account for those who internalize the values of their ethnic collectivity and regard their 'role' as 'preservers' positively. Indeed compulsion does not always feature. To suggest otherwise would be to ignore their sense of 'ethnic consciousness' which in turn may be a product of various socializing influences. The 'role' of women in perpetuating endogamous unions not only as instruments but also as active agents would be examined. It will be shown that mothers who often internalize such 'roles' may subject their daughters to the same conditions. The part they play in transferring the 'heritage' of the group would also be alluded to. In essence, these issues will be explored in an attempt to understand the meaning of the "participants, lives in (the) participants' own terms"(Janesick, 1994:380).