european journal of social sciences issn: 1450-2267 - EuroJournals

European Journal of Social Sciences – Volume 5, Number 3 (2007)
fly, cut myself off completely. I told you, it's a process…and you must…then, you must free yourself,
just free yourself from these chains slowly, slowly and gradually. (Hanan)
The conflicts which derive from exposure to different cultures and values in her social
environment have influenced her identity and are expressed on different levels: on the external level
they are expressed between her and her husband, and stem from Hanan’s desire, as expressed in the
interview, to change the relations of authority and the alignment of roles in the family; between herself
and her female friends due to her different notions and lifestyle. On a different level, there are the
interpersonal conflicts , "within myself", which emerge from the conflict between the way she was
raised, and the "contact with modernity outside". In order to express her feelings, Hanan uses
metaphors. They serve to express abstract concepts or complex ideas, especially connected to human
experience, when there are no terms or ready linguistic "formulas" (Taylor, 1995) which can aid her in
expressing the ambivalence in her soul The "chains" and the “thread” determine confusion and
conflicting needs, the chains which cause her distress at times are viewed as a thread, which constitute
a need; and thus, her desire to fly, on the one hand, and her desire to be connected, on the other.
At first, the dichotomy between the ‘overt’ identity as influenced by collective traditional
norms and the ‘covert’ one embodying personal, individual thoughts, appears powerfully present, only
to diminish in intensity as the women outlined the complex influences of the two cultures on their
covert inner identity, resulting in interpersonal conflicts and split loyalties.
Epilogue: Conflicts and Coherency in Identity
Upon their return to their community, the educated women re-encountered the gender norms with a
different perspective than the one they had left with. The positive implications of higher education that
are constantly described and highlighted by many studies (Aref, 1997; The Carnegie Report and
Recommendations on Higher Education, 1973; Ahmad-Fauzia, 2001; Aronhold, 2000; Baburajan,
1998; Bahemuka & Van der Vynct, 2000;, 1978; Jejeebhoy, 1995; Katjavivi, 2000; (Stormquist, 1992;
Viveros, 1992) were indeed apparent in other findings of this research (see Weiner-Levy, 2006a).
Education led the women to knowledge, and enabled them to work and support themselves. But for
many of the interviewees, upon return to their society, higher education, which had exposed them to a
different culture, to dissimilar norms and values, did not set them free, but rather intensified their
awareness of inequality and patriarchal repression, accompanied by pain and hybridity. The diverse
norms and values have influenced and shaped their identities and the interviewees are torn between
expression of their personal wishes and their right to self-realization, and the need and desire to belong
to the community and to maintain its values.
The interviewees described feelings of displacement, of living "in between two worlds”, not in
one nor in the other. The existence in two cultures, and the genderial bounds set by the Druze
community, emphasized the gap between the cultural norms the women were raised upon, and the
norms and values of individualism and self-fulfillment which they were exposed during studiyng for
their academic degrees. These different, sometimes opposing, norms and cultures, have shaped
different constructs of identity. The constructs, the covert (or concealed) identity, and the overt identity
have been described in many ways as dissociated and disconnected from each other 6 . The “hybrid”
identity described by the interviewees exhibits a situation of multiple identities that arise from being
educated according to dominant cultural norms, and then returning to the Druze culture. The different
levels of interpersonal conflicts have been salient; the next section will therefore discuss differing
theoretical approaches towards conflict or internal disharmony
Psychological identity theories address inner conflicts in different ways. Widely accepted
essentialist theories describe 'identity confusion' or 'identity diffusion' (Erikson, 1968, 1975 ;
6 Erickson 1968 wrote about the negative effects of integrating opposing norms and values. The latter, according to his theory brought about identity
diffusion and identity confusion. Similarly Marcia (1993:10) accentuated the importance of inner harmony in order to achieve “closure” - the required
identity achievement. The Postmodern theories (Gergen, 1991; Hall, 1996; Sarup (1996. describe the state of conflicting values and norms as part of
the postmodern experience.
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