<
https://theconversation.com/the-hijab-is-not-a-symbol-of-gender-oppression-but-those-who-choose-to-wear-it-risk-islamophobia-178454>
"In a recent New York Times podcast on the alleged “Trojan Horse” Islamisation
of schools in Birmingham, England, a Muslim woman who worked in one of the
schools under discussion relays what happened when she started wearing the
hijab. She had just got married and non-Muslim colleagues interpreted her head
covering as a sign that her new husband was controlling her, that she was
oppressed.
In reality, as she explains to the podcasts’ hosts, she had not previously worn
the hijab because she was afraid of exactly this: people’s biased reactions to
it. She only started to cover when she felt more confident that the school was
a safe place where she could be herself without fear of Islamophobic
repercussions.
Wearing a form of head covering is the most visible symbol of Islam in the west
– and the most misunderstood. The ways in which Muslim women cover are diverse,
ranging from the face veil or niqab, to covering their hair and upper body with
the headscarf or hijab. And like Muslim women themselves, these come in a huge
variety of colours, styles and fashions and are shaped by place, time and
trends.
Some people have equated covering with gender inequality and have seen it as a
threat to social cohesion or, worse, as synonymous with Islamist extremism.
While there are women who are pressured into covering by law or society,
assuming that this applies to all who do so feeds these stereotypes, promoting
a climate of racism and Islamophobia of which Muslim women, in the UK and
worldwide, bear the brunt.
Those who choose to cover have to navigate both these prejudicial views and the
legislation, the routine media scrutiny and the political debate they engender
– often without being included in any of it – in their everyday lives.
But what these assumptions fail to recognise are the multiple meanings that
covering holds for the women who choose to do so. Research shows that for many
of those who wear it, the veil is not a passive garment. Rather, it is very
often an important and integral part of women’s identity, an expression of
personal choice."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
