Family honor, cultural norms and social networking: Strategic choices in the visual self-presentation of young Indian Muslim women

Smeeta Mishra; Surhita Basu

doi:10.5817/CP2014-2-3

Family honor, cultural norms and social networking: Strategic choices in the visual self-presentation of young Indian Muslim women

Vol.8,No.2(2014)

Smeeta Mishra Surhita Basu

https://doi.org/10.5817/CP2014-2-3

How to Cite:

Mishra, S., & Basu, S. (2014). Family honor, cultural norms and social networking: Strategic choices in the visual self-presentation of young Indian Muslim women. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 8(2), Article 3. https://doi.org/10.5817/CP2014-2-3

HTML

Abstract

This study explores how young Indian Muslim women negotiate multiple influences while posting their own photographs on social networking sites. In depth interviews showed that these women made a strategic effort not to disrupt the social reputation of their families with the nature of their online visual presentations. While their photographs presented an opportunity for individual expression, they also became a site for simultaneous adherence to family expectations, religious norms and patriarchal constructions of femininity dominant in offline settings. Except three respondents who considered themselves outliers in their community, all emphasized the need to upload “nice” pictures on social networking sites that do not give off any signs of sexual assertiveness. Most respondents seemed to carry the responsibility of upholding the “honor” of their families, a requirement in their offline life, to digital settings as well. However, the respondents also managed to exercise a degree of personal choice and individual agency within the dominant framework aided by the privacy settings offered by social networking sites.

Keywords:
Indian Muslim women; online social networking; self-presentation; family honor; cultural norms

Author biographies

Smeeta Mishra

Smeeta Mishra (Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin) is an associate professor in the Business Communication Area at the Institute of Management Technology - Ghaziabad, India. She has previously worked as assistant professor at Bowling Green State University, Ohio and Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad. Her research interests include new media studies, business communication and gender issues. Her work has been published in several international, peer-reviewed journals and she is currently finalizing a co-authored book titled Online Business Communication.

Surhita Basu

Surhita Basu is a doctoral candidate at AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India. She won a gold medal for her achievements in the Master’s program in Mass Communication and Videography at Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata, India. She has been teaching online journalism and related subjects for the last six years. Her research interests include new media, online journalism, international communication, virtual identity, politics of knowledge and international relations.

References

Abraham, M. (1999). Sexual abuse in South Asian immigrant marriages. Violence against Women, 5, 591-618. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778019922181392

Ahmad, A. (2013, August 24). Muslim women chafe at Facebook fatwa. Khabar South Asia. Retrieved from: http://khabarsouthasia.com/en_GB/articles/apwi/articles/features/2013/08/24/feature-01

Al-Saggaf, Y. (2011). Saudi females on Facebook: An ethnographic study. International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Society, 9(1), 1-19.

Arya, D. (2013, May 8). Why are Indian women being attacked on social media? BBC.com. Retrieved from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-22378366

Boyce, C., & Neale, P. (2006). Conducting in-depth interviews: A guide for designing and conducting in-depth interviews for evaluation input. Retrieved from: http://www2.pathfinder.org/site/DocServer/m_e_tool_series_indepth_interviews.pdf

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77-101. Retrieved from: http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/11735/2/thematic_analysis_revised_-_final.pdf. | https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa

Brouwer, L. (2006). Giving voice to Dutch Moroccan girls on the Internet. Global Media Journal, 5(9). Retrieved from: http://dare.ubvu.vu.nl/bitstream/handle/1871/25786/194682.pdf?sequence=2

Crouch, M., & McKenzie, H. (2006). The logic of small samples in interview-based qualitative research. Social Science Information, 45, 483-499. https://doi.org/10.1177/0539018406069584

Concern over low literacy rate of Muslim women (2011, May 26). The Hindu. Retrieved from: http://www.hindu.com/2011/05/26/stories/2011052660270900.htm

Das, V. (1976). Masks and faces: An essay on Punjabi kinship. Contributions to Indian Sociology, 10, 1-30. https://doi.org/10.1177/006996677601000101

Derné, S. (1995). Culture in Action: Family Life, Emotion, and Male Dominance in Banaras, India. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Facebook divides India Muslim scholars (2013). Retrieved from: http://www.onislam.net/english/news/asia-pacific/463956-facebook-divides-indiamuslim-scholars.html

Goffman, E. (1959). The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York: Anchor

India’s Muslims: Growing, and neglected (2013, March 2). The Economist. Retrieved from: http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21572785-steadily-rising-muslim-population-continues-fall-behind-growing-and-neglected

Indian women targeted on social media for liberal views (2013, May 8). The Daily Beast. Retrieved from: http://www.thedailybeast.com/witw/cheats/2013/05/08/indian-women-targeted-on-twitter-for-liberal-views.html

Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI)(2013). Social Media in India – 2012. Retrieved from: http://www.iamai.in/rsh_pay.aspx?rid=0B2QPqlHSwM=

Kandiyoti, D. (1988). Bargaining with patriarchy. Gender and Society, 2, 274-290. https://doi.org/10.1177/089124388002003004

Leurs, K., & Ponzanesi, S. (2011). Dutch Moroccan girls performing their selves in instant messaging spaces. In K. Ross (Ed.), Handbook of Gender, Sex and the Media (pp.436-454). Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

Malik, H. (2014, February 28). Modesty is my liberty. Huffington Post. Retrieved from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hana-malik/modesty-is-my-liberty_b_4870238.html

Marwick, A., & boyd, d. (2010). I tweet honestly, I tweet passionately: Twitter users, context collapse and the imagined audience. New Media & Society. Retrieved from: http://www.tiara.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/marwick_boyd_twitter_nms.pdf

McKinsey & Company (2012). Online and Upcoming: The Internet’s Impact on India. Retrieved from: http://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey offices/india/pdfs/online_and_upcoming_the_internets_impact_on_india.ashx

Mishra, S., Monippally, M. M., & Jayakar, K. P. (2013). Self presentation in online. environments: A study of Indian muslim matrimonial profiles. Asian Journal of Communication, 23, 38-53. https://doi.org/10.1080/01292986.2012.717094

Niazi, S. (2013, May 1). Online fatwa lures India Muslims. Retrieved from: http://www.onislam.net/english/news/asia-pacific/462469-online-fatwa-lures-indiamuslims.html

Piela, A. (2010). Challenging stereotypes: Muslim women’s photographic self-representation on the Internet. Heidelberg Journal of Religion on the Internet, 4, 87-110.

Puri, J. (1999). Woman, body, desire in post-colonial India: Narratives of gender and sexuality. New York: Routledge.

Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India (2007). Census of India, 2001. Retrieved from: http://censusindia.gov.in/Census_And_You/religion.aspx

Sachar Committee (2006). Social, Economic and Educational Status of the Muslim Community in India: A Report. Retrieved from: http://minorityaffairs.gov.in/sites/upload_files/moma/files/pdfs/sachar_comm.pdf

Shah, K. (2012). 27% of Facebook Audience in India Are Female: Ad Rates Only 1% Higher Than Males. Retrieved from: http://www.socialsamosa.com/2012/06/27-of-facebook-audience-in-india-are-female-ad-rates-only-1-higher-than-males/

Shariff, A. (2012). Inclusive Development Paradigm in India: A Post-Sachar Perspective. US India Policy Institute. Retrieved from: http://www.usindiapolicy.org/inclusive-development-paradigm-in-india-a-post-sachar-perspective/

Shen, K. N., & Khalifa, M. (2010). Facebook usage among Arabic college students: Preliminary findings on gender differences. University of Wollongong Research Online. Retrieved from: http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1074&context=dubaipapers

Siibak, A. (2007). Reflections of RL in the virtual world. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 1(1), article 1. Retrieved from: http://cyberpsychology.eu/view.php?cisloclanku=2007072301&article=1

Siibak, A. (2009). Constructing the self through the photo selection – Visual impression management on social networking websites. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 3(1), article 1. Retrieved from: http://cyberpsychology.eu/view.php?cisloclanku=2009061501&article=1

Social media in India: Statistics & Insights (2011, January 4). Retrieved from: http://www.techinasia.com/social-media-india/

Strano, M. M. (2008). User descriptions and interpretations of self-presentation through facebook profile images. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 2(2), article 5. Retrieved from: http://cyberpsychology.eu/view.php?cisloclanku=2008110402&article=5

Subrahmanyam, K., & Šmahel, D. (2011). Digital youth: The role of media in development. New York: Springer.

Teens, social media, and relationships: An Interview with Kaveri Subrahmanyam (2010). The Prevention Researcher, 17(Supplement), 11-12. Retrieved from: http://www.tpronline.org/article.cfm/Teens_Social_Media_and_Relationships

Van Dijck, J. (2008). Digital photography: Communication, identity, memory. Visual Communication, 7, 57-76. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470357207084865

Werbner, P. (2007). Veiled interventions in pure space: Honour, shame and embodied struggles among Muslims in Britain and France. Theory, Culture & Society, 24, 161-186. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276407075004

Whitty, M. T. (2008). Revealing the ‘real’ me, searching for the ‘actual’ you: Presentations of self on an Internet dating site. Computers in Human Behavior, 24, 1707-1723. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2007.07.002

Women and the Web (2013). Retrieved from: http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/technology-in-education/women-in-the-web.html.html

Young, K. (2009). Online social networking: An Australian perspective. International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Society, 7(1), 39-57.

Zhao, S., Grasmuck, S., & Martin, J. (2008). Identity construction in Facebook: Digital empowerment in anchored relationships. Computers in Human Behavior, 24, 1816-1836. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2008.02.012

Metrics