Living our religions : Hindu and Muslim South Asian American women narrate their experiences / [edited] by Anjana Narayan and Bandana Purkayastha ; with Shobha Hamal Gurung ... [and others].

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Narayan, Anjana, 1976-

Purkayastha, Bandana, 1956-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

South Asian American women--Religious life.

South Asian American women.

Hindu women--United States--Social life and customs.

Hindu women.

Muslim women--United States--Social life and customs.

Muslim women.

Manners and customs.

Religious life.

United States.

Physical Description:

vii, 341 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Sterling, VA : Kumarian Press, 2009.

Summary:

The Population of the South Asian diaspora in the US is over 2.5 million people. Yet in a post 9/11 climate of opinion, little is known about this group beyond images of Muslim and Hindu fundamentalists and veiled women. Rarely are Hindu and Muslim American women-many of whom are social workers, physicians, lawyers, academics, students, and homemakers-asked about their everyday lives and religious beliefs.

Living Our Religions cuts through the myths of this "invisible minority" to bring out stories from women of Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Indian, and Nepali origin. Their accounts show how diverse and culturally dynamic religious practices emerge in specific locales. The authors describe the race, gender, and ethnic boundaries they encounter and document how they resist and challenge these boundaries.

Contents:

Introduction / Anjana Narayan and Bandana Purkayastha

Transgressing the sacred-secular, private-public divide / Bandana Purkayastha

The interconnecting humanity : connections between our spiritual and secular world / Selina Jamil

Islam through a mosaic of cultures / Parveen Talpur

At the crossroads of religions : the experiences of a Newar woman in Nepal and the United States / Bidya Ranjeet

Color of God : resplendent clay of Hindu images as the glow of the ineffable / Neela Bhattacharya Saxena

I am Muslim first / Salma Kamal

Red, bulls, and tea : cultural hashing of a 1.5er (a.k.a. second-generation reflections) / Monoswita Saha

Interpretive intervention : religion, gender, and boundaries / Bandana Purkayastha

Many facets of Hinduism / Anjana Narayan

Living Hinduism and striving to achieve internal and external harmony / Shanthi Rao

Mapping the memories of a Nepali woman in the United States / Shobha Hamal Gurung

Bengali, Bangladesh yet Muslim / Elora Halim Chowdhury

Religion as inspiration, religion as action / Aysha Saeed

Muslim women between dual realities / Rafia Zakaria

Challenging the master frame through dalit organizing in the United States / Shweta Majumdar

Interpretive intervention : religion, practices, and resistances / Anjana Narayan

Conclusion : human rights, religion, and gender / Bandana Purkayastha.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 301-316) and index.

ISBN:

9781565492707

1565492706

9781565492714

1565492714

OCLC:

227929014