‘In love, she remains whole’: Heterosexual Love in Contemporary Arab American Poetry Written by Women

Since the advent of Arab American feminism in the 1990s, Arab American womenwriters have become prominent figures in the field of Arab American literature. At thesame time, the victimization of Arab women and the stereotyping of Arab men havegrown in the West. Given this mainstream perception of Arabs, this article aims atexploring the positioning of Arab American women towards Arab men, taking intoaccount the feminist fight against sexism and racism. Analyzing the articulations ofheterosexual love made by Arab American women in their poetry (including MohjaKahf, Suheir Hammad and Pauline Kaldas), this article will examine the potentialpolitical use of poetry.