The Sources of Gender Role Attitudes among Christian and Muslim ...

210 SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION
Christian and Muslim Arabs share an ethnic heritage greatly influenced by
Islamic values, especially those regarding gender roles and family relations (Bilge
and Aswad 1996; GhaneaBassiri 1997; Haddad 1994). The family is considered
the foundation of the Amb community, and there is a strong emphasis on tra-
ditional gender roles (Esposito 1998; Haddad 1994). Amb women have primary
responsibility for childbearing, childrearing, and socializing future generations
with Amb values. While normative in many countries in the Middle East, there
is considerable variability in the degree to which Arab Americans support these
ideals. Some believe that adhering to religious traditions is essential for
maintaining an ethnic identity and believe that female domesticity is funda-
mental for preserving and reproducing Arab culture (Cainkar 1994; Haddad and
Lummis 1987). Others consider it inhibitive of their integration and achieve-
ment in U.S. society, and support women's education and employment. Like
liberal Christians or Jews, they differentiate between religion and culture and see
compatibility between Arab and Islamic values and western life (Haddad and
Lummis 1987; Haddad and Smith 1996:20).
These attitudes vary by nativity, partly reflecting differences in religious
affiliation between the native- and foreign-born populations. The majority of
native-born Arab-Americans are descendents of Christians who immigrated to
the U.S. between 1890 and World War I. Most of these early arrivals were
working-class ›233 from Greater Syria4 seeking better economic opportunities
for their families. While many attempted to sustain traditional gender roles,
most recognized and needed the economic benefits provided by educated female
workers (Shakir 1997). Conversely, the majority of foreign-born Arab-
Americans ate Muslims who began immigrating to the United States after
World War II, largely in response to political turmoil in the Middle East, such as
the 1967 and 1973 Arab-Israeli wars (Bozorgmehr, Der-Martirosian and Sabagh
1996; Naff 1994; Suleiman 1999). Christian Arabs continue to migrate in this
newer wave, but most of the arrivals are educated Muslims, whose achievements
encourage integration into the American middle class (Haddad 1994). Their
status asa religious minority, however, has militated against easy acculturation
into mainstream society, and some choose to reside in ethnic communities for
social and psychological support. As newer immigrants, they are also more likely
to maintain ties with their sending countries, where traditional norms favor
women's domestic roles (Bilge and Aswad 1996).
Patterns in cultural assimilation become more complicated within these
broad categories of Christian and Muslim affiliation. As is true for other ethno-
religious groups, there is considerable intra-group diversity among Christians and
Muslims in their social class backgrounds and subjective feelings of religiosity
and ethnicity. And similar to research on Jewish Americans, these factors can
4 Greater S~ria includes modero dau Lebanon, S~ia, Palestine, and Israel.
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