Young Muslim women: the ambivalences of speaking out

This paper explores how a small group of young Australian Muslim women are engaging with the discourses of gender, religion and culture in their lives. It draws on data gathered from a study that evaluated aprogramme designed to support learning and public action for human rights. The paper highlights these young women’s experiences of the double bind of racism and patriarchy in their lives around familial/community and public ideas about what it means to be a good Muslim woman. In light of this burden of representation, the paper draws attention to the ambivalences of responsibility and risk the young women express about speaking out against the issues that concern them. We conclude with a consideration of the significance community-driven and localized advocacy represents in Muslim women moving beyond the double bind.