Hermeneutics and Honor: Negotiating Female "Public" Space in Islamic/ate Societies, Foreword by Mary-Jo DelVecchio Good

Women's traversal of public space in Islamic/ate societies and the ensuing process of negotiating gendered identities are the central concerns of this collection of essays. The dichotomy between private and public spheres, upheld as axiomatic for most societies, has recently been challenged by scholars as an artificial construct. For women in particular, the demarcation between the two spheres has become blurred by the enormous public consequences of their private behavior. Elaborate cultural…