Cory Owen

The Role of the Hijab

    When I first saw this class listed as an option for the Spring semester, I was excited.  After having studied post-colonial literature a few semesters before, I was interested in expanding my knowledge of the actual colonial period that had changed so much of the world.  In my final semester of undergraduate, I took a course entitled "Women in Arabic Literature."  This course introduced me to much more knowledge of the Arabic world (though it was mostly focused on Algeria since that's where my professor's husband was from), and it piqued my interest immediately.  Since my first job after college was working in an ESL program on the A&M campus, I had the opportunity to work with many Muslim students who were more than happy to teach me more about their faith and culture--this was especially interesting to me since I was a religious studies minor in college.  Since then, my studies have led me towards books that are controversial and yet informative about viewpoints from both ends of the spectrum regarding the perception of Muslims throughout the world.  Specifically, I was intrigued by the veiling, or wearing of hijabs, of many Muslim women.  The question that always haunted me was whether or not women were being forced to wear these on the grounds of control and manipulation or it was due to individual choices of women to give a message to the general public.  Years later, I'm still stuck at this question with no clearer results.  What I've realized is that there is no clear and simple answer and it completely depends on the woman, the situation, and the time period.

It seems easy in the Western world to just generalize all veiled women as people who are subjected to this wardrobe by their oppressors--the men.  And many accounts tell us such things.  From the outside looking in, it is hard to see anything else.  Many people from the "outside" were intrigued by these seemingly foreign and exotic women.  One group in particular, the photographers, were intrigued by these veiled women and were frustrated by their attempts to capture these women.  "Turned back upon himself, upon his own impotence in the situation, the photographer undergoes an initial experience of disappointment and rejection.  Draped in the veil that cloaks her to her ankles, that Algerian woman discourages the scopic voyeurism of the photographer" (Alloula 7).  Furthermore, this distress towards women who are veiled does not end with just Westerners.  "Indeed, even certain Muslim feminists decry the wearing of the veil on the basis that men use it as a tool to oppress women" (Droogsma 296).   For many people, the veil is a sign of not only oppression, but a fight against modernity and the influence of the West.  And yet, it seems as though many people regard veiling as a choice forced upon the women whereas, it is becoming more and more evident that this is not the case for all women.  When France declared that outward evidences of religious beliefs (including hijabs) would be banned, there was a loud outcry from the Muslim community (Economist 23).  What seemed to surprised the Western society was that the women wanted to be veiled and fought for this right.

For many women, being veiled allows a certain amount of freedom.  During a tour of Afghanistan, Harriet Logan began to see a surprising side of the effects of "freedom".  There was an assumption that women were forced by men to wear these hijabs, and in a certain sense they were.  "After a very short time being there, I found it easy to understand why they [the women] kept covered: the streets have become predatory.  Everywhere I went, there were huge crowds of men staring at me.  'You can see why we choose to stay covered,' said my interpreter.  'These men make us feel ashamed'" (Logan xix).  This idea of protection from lustful men has become a motivator for women to remain veiled.  This veil from the world and men allow for a level of security in a world of changes.

Another motivator to staying covered was that it helped to bring a unity with themselves and other Muslim women.  "The Muslim woman image overrides all others to constitute these women's primary identities (Cooke 131).  The idea that being a woman is not enough of a distinction--they want to be known as a Muslim woman.  Especially with the increasing number of converts to Islam, many other ethnicities are finding the hijab as a way to bond with other women within their faith (Droogsma 302).  With so many different cultures encapsulated by Islam, the idea of reinforcing similarities rather than differences is a great drive amongst women who may feel that they aren't understood.  However, this idea works in many different ways with different ramifications.  Interestingly, when speaking about this topic to an Egyptian friend, she revealed that she veils when at home in Houston, but not while abroad since there is much confusion about her faith.  Being a conservative Christian from a small sect in Egypt, she is expected to veil, though when abroad it is assumed that she is Muslim because of this behavior (Tadross).  For her, the idea of veiling is for a bonding within her church in Houston, very similar to the Muslim women who veil for the communal aspects, but once these ties are no longer attainable, she removes the veil.  The idea that veiling is counterintuitive to modernity is just too simplistic with so many factors in play. 

What my studies have led me to understand is that the issue of veiling is not black and white.  There are numerous reasons for women to veil and there are many reasons for the reactions from non-veiled people.  There are many dimensions and reasonings behind this culture of veiled women.  Being from a Western culture where we tend to have the attitude that we always know best (seemingly echoing some Colonialistic views), it would be easy to just disregard any groups that continue to be veiled as being oppressed or unenlightened.  In the end, it seems that there are women on both sides of the fence--both choosing to remain veiled and some being forced into this lifestyle.

Alloula, Malek.  The Colonial Harem.  University of Minnesota: 1986. 

Droogsma, Rachel Anderson.  "Redefining Hijab: American Muslim Women's Standpoint on Veiling".  Journal of Applied Communication (01 Aug. 2007): 35:3.  Academic Search Complete.  EBSCO.  UHCL, Clear Lake, TX.  23 March 2008.  <http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content?content=10.1080/00909880701434299>

Logan, Harriet.  Unveiled.  Harriet Logan: 2002.

Tadross, Maryanne.  Personal interview.  14 Jan. 2008.

"Veil of tears."  Economist  370.8358 (17 Jan. 2004): 44.  Academic Search Complete. EBSCO.  UHCL, Clear Lake, TX.  23 March 2008.  <http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=11986271&site=ehost-live>.