My Name is Salma and I am a Victim of Honor Crimes: (Re) conceptualizing Honor Killing and Stigma against Women

Abstract

The present study examines honor killings through applying Goffman's theory of stigma when a sample of 207 students of a public university in Jordan attended a literary work performed on stage. The study follows an interdisciplinary method by examining the social interaction between the audience ('normals' from Goffman's point of view) and Salma— the stigmatized character in Fadia Faqir's My Name is Salma, and her family. One of the significant findings of the study is that a high level of students' perception towards justifying Salma's sin, after considering and analyzing her conditions, believes that she doesn't deserve to be murdered in the name of honor.