Negotiating the rules of chaste behaviour: re-interpretations of the symbolic complex of virginity by young women of Moroccan descent in The Netherlands

This article investigates what narrations on the symbolic complex of virginity in the life-stories of second-generation women of Moroccan descent in The Netherlands can tell us about the ways these women construct, maintain and combine their various social identifications. It is demonstrated that th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ethnic and racial studies 2002-05, Vol.25 (3), p.462-489
Main Author: Buitelaar, M. W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biculturalism
Cultural Pluralism
Cultures and civilizations
Embodiment Of Ethnicity
Ethnic groups. Acculturation. Cultural identity
Ethnicity
Females
Life stories
Migrants
Moroccan people
Morocco
Multicultural Capital
Multiculturalism
Netherlands
Noncitizens
North African Cultural Groups
Orientation
Parents & parenting
Race relations
Second-GENERATION Moroccan Migrants
Sexual behavior
Social Identity
Social life & customs
Sociology
Symbolic Boundaries
Symbolism
Value
Value Orientations
Values
Virginity
Virginity-COMPLEX
Women
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Summary:This article investigates what narrations on the symbolic complex of virginity in the life-stories of second-generation women of Moroccan descent in The Netherlands can tell us about the ways these women construct, maintain and combine their various social identifications. It is demonstrated that these biographical narratives contain numerous episodes in which the women improvise upon and shift the meanings of Moroccan core-values like virginity and obedience to one's parents. It is argued that they do so in ways that allow their identifying with values that are cherished within Moroccan circles to be combined with upholding cultural notions that are highly valued by Dutch peers with whom they also identify. It is also pointed out, however, that their drawing upon multicultural capital to create new strategies of living is not without constraints.
ISSN:0141-9870
1466-4356
DOI:10.1080/01419870020036701b