Courtney Dravitzki
Gender COMM
Intro Blog Post
Muslim Male
For my gender identity project I am choosing to focus on the Male Muslim gender identity. More specifically, I want to center my research on the college male population. This semester I have been studying in a course on the religion of Islam. Recently we have learned the basics of the Islam faith, where it originated, and the prayers and practices that go along with this faith. Currently there are about 1 billion Muslims in the world (Winter and Williams , 2002, pg 3). Which is second only to Christianity as a world religion. A text by Hewer states, “harmony with God requires that every element of creation knows its place and obeys the will of God.” (Hewer, 2000, pg 3) How does this obedience to the will of God affect how a person lives their life? How does this form their identity and their actions that create who they are and want to become? Myself, being a very religious person, am extremely interested in learning more about other faiths and how this affects one’s identity. In a descriptive book about the basics of Islam, it is written that “ the vast majority of Muslims would never go against the teachings of the Prophet as recorded in the hadiths” (Winter and Williams, 2002, pg 47). I have been lucky enough to befriend a fellow peer in my class who is coincidentally the only practicing Muslim. It has been through my conversations with him and the impact that my own faith has had on my life that I have decided to take it upon myself to study this specific gender identity.
My plan for observing and learning more about this identity is to contact my friend and ask him if he would be willing to partake in my project. If all goes as planned I will meet with him and interview him about how his faith has shaped who he is and who wants to become. I will also attend the Mosque and observe their religious practice in action. I look forward to learning more about this dominant religion and also how it shapes and molds the men who carry out the religious practices, specifically those who attend college.
Sources:
Islam and Introduction, by Ruqaiyyah Maqsood, , Teach Yourself Books, 2010.
Understanding Islam and the Muslims, by T. J. Winter and J. A. Williams, Fons Vitae Press, 2002.
Understanding Islam: An Introduction, by C.T.R. Hewer, Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2002
Great focus with Muslim male college students. Very clear and within the scope of this project. I hope all goes according to your plan in terms of data collection. I think that it can be a very fruitful project. In terms of the concept application blog, it is important that you make a stronger, more explicit connection to gender identity. You are looking at sex identity. What does that mean? What does that mean in terms of members of the male sex? How does that intersect with religion specifically Islam? See chapter 10 in our text. It might be a good place to start.
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