Ninth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society

Abstract

In this paper, an exploration of a first-generation Shia Ismaili Muslim Canadian female’s experience as a young brown-body child is depicted. Through an autoethnographic methodology, witnesses to the complex narrative of this young girl will gain insight into how (female) children navigate and negotiate spaces on the borders of and in the in-between of social locations. We learn about the tensions in the intersect of race, ethnicity, gender and religion through the telling of a child’s experience at religious education classes and during faith-oriented (institutional) community programming such as Girl Guides. We are presented, through an interactive discussion, potential ways for caregivers and practitioners to sit in such tensions with young (female) children and the power of having an ally in such complex social spaces. Through a collaborative and engaging dialogue, presenter and audience members, will find themselves whirling in this young girls re-telling, only now years later with language that was once unattainable.