The personal is most definitely political in the context of women’s clothing in this century and its predecessor. Only last week, Sudanese women were flogged for dressing “indecently”. They had been wearing trousers. A little before that, Nicolas Sarkozy said that the Burqa was “not welcome” in France. Dress Codes for women in Indian colleges were in the news a little before that. In other words, yes, the world is talking about what women should wear.
Sarkozy’s statement about Burqa, as several commentators have pointed out was made at a time when the French President might have focussed on more pressing issues in his country, where only about 1% of women actually wear the burqa. Besides this, it has also attracted the angry criticism of Muslim leaders and clerics, besides a section of feminists around the world. Sarkozy’s own argument is that the number of women wearing the burqa is increasing and that this is a sign of religious radicalization.
France’s brand of secularism has always been different from India’s interpretation of the term. In India, we become secular as a state by letting individuals profess and practice, publicly and privately, whatever religion they want to; whereas in France, public life is essentially distanced from religion. So, it’s somehow harder to understand where Sarkozy’s statement comes from, when one has always seen people wearing their faith on their sleeve. France, however has a sizeable population of Muslims – Arabs, Africans and native French. The question is, in the pursuit of “secularism” is France making high-handed assumptions about clothing and oppression and in the process, denying women their cultural rights? Is it right to equate the burqa with docility and suppression?
The burqa (and the hijab, the niqab, the chador) is possibly the most controversial garment in this century. It has been used on the one hand by fundamentalist power-seeking groups like the Taliban to attain their own end, through the suppression of women. Women have been handed grisly punishments – physical and even sexual – for refusing to wear it. It was turned, in Afghanistan, into a weapon of suppression. Being forced to wear a tent-like garment at all times, for fear of being labelled a “seductress” and subjected to indignity and punishment, is a blatant breach of human rights, and feminist and other activists all over the world have opposed this. In France, the group Ni Putes, Ni Soumises (Neither Whores nor Submissive) is strong in its condemnation of the burqa. They call it a “prison under open skies” for those who wear it, and deem it an instrument to force women into submission.
On the other hand, however, a lot of women in Europe, India and West Asia have found their cultural identity in the folds of this robe-like garment. They choose to wear it because it gives them a sense of comfort and religious belonging. They are not forced and simply choose to dress this way.
Let me draw an analogy here to a garment accepted by more people as a necessity in women’s toilette – the bra. Germaine Greer and other feminists burned bras several decades ago, in defiance of patriarchal ideas of female beauty. They saw the bra as oppressive – a garment created to objectify women and turn them into sex objects in the imagination of men. A lot of women (the majority) still choose to wear a bra. Many of them are feminists. They too stand against patriarchy but might choose to do so in a bra. They don’t see it as a patriarchal instrument but only as a means to support their breasts. Sure, there are still ridiculously stuffed, padded bras around and a lot of women around the world are subjected to ridicule and judged by size of their breasts. Inflatable and padded bras are marketed to these women with the convoluted objective of making them look like they have big busts too. But then, would we ban the bra? I don’t think so.
Further, there’s the stereotyping – women in conservative clothes must be powerless, docile and submissive while those in modern, non-traditional clothing must be outgoing, risqué and rebellious. Consider this – the French president sees the “modern”, fashionably dressed woman as the positive image, as he connects this with progress, freedom and empowerment. Hence, he chooses to speak of banning the burqa, as he sees it as the very anti-thesis of his country’s values. In Sudan, docility, modesty and traditional clothing are considered valuable. Hence their opposite – trousers, in this case – is seen as harmful to the fabric of society. In both cases, the woman’s choice in the matter is discounted, disappearing in the assumptions made about her image as “empowered” or “decent”.
Sofie Ashraf, a young musician who raps while wearing a burqa is the perfect example why these stereotypes often do not apply. She is bold, performs with a band onstage, raps about why she loves Islam, and is anything but docile. She says in one of her songs, “Gimme back my faith/ Don’t hijack my faith / Don’t hate me for an idiot’s mistake.” That somehow seems to sum it up. Sofie herself likens her choice of wearing the burqa to a groupie’s wearing a band t-shirt. “We love Islam, so we wear burqa.” she says, and adds that it comes with a responsibility.
What is also ignored is the fact that the real problem where the burqa is concerned is the sexual, physical and emotional violence perpetrated against women who make the choice not to wear the burqa, as well as the fact that a large number of women are forced into the veil. Rather than banning the garment itself, what governments should be focussing on is nabbing the abusers, molesters and thugs, who would deprive women of their freedom to choose.
Women who choose to wear the burqa are choosing to belong – not to feel alienated. However, if the stigma and the stereotype are allowed to blindly thrive too long, they may indeed start to feel alienated in a society where they are looked upon as mysterious black-robed creatures, to be pitied and handled with care. Burqa bans will only end up doing this, besides driving the women who wear the burqa only reluctantly, back into their homes, depriving them of any freedom they may have had.
Picture Source: DeviantArt – guildedglamour
The Author Sneha Krishnan is an economics-obsessed, pasta-loving history student bound for Oxford this fall. She is usually found curled up in sofas with her ever-present macbook perched on some surface in the vicinity. Sneha first started thinking about doing Sa when she and Shweta realized that they were ranting about the day's news/ happenings practically everyday and everything they said had something to do with their feminist convictions. So they wondered how it would be to write about these things and more... and KaBoom... seven months and laborious code-learning (trial and error, the only method for us) sessions later, Sa came to be. Sneha’s favourite pastimes, besides feminism and Sa, are reading the New York Times, playing Scrabble and watching every movie that looks remotely interesting.
The generalization that women who wear ‘western clothes’ are more empowered, intelligent and capable and that women who stick to their traditional attire are devoid of strength is crass feminism. It is always a person’s freedom to chose.Again under the disguise of being a feminist Sarkozy,acts as a caveman,besides his anti-secularistic attitude.Feminist men all over the world try to remake women,so that it becomes palatable for them, to accept them as their equal counterparts.In whatever ‘form’ a woman be, it is high time people started seeing them as living beings and not just symbols of reproduction.It is because of this inadequacy, I believe,they end up with moronic solutions. What Sarkozy and many others need,is that they have to relearn that the brain is the organ of thinking and not the gonads.
Your objectivism enthralls me.Keep up the good work Sneha !
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admin Reply:
August 4th, 2009 at
Thanks! And how right you are!
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I have been wearing the burqa for five years now.I feel so secure and comfortable when i wear it and cannot imagine leaving the home without it.wish i had started wearing it earlier…..atleast i would not have given the opportunity to other males staring at me.
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Good one. The freedom to choose is what is needed.
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[...] blogger savadati explains what is at stake for Muslim women, in her post “We love Islam so we wear burqas” : The burqa (and the hijab, the niqab, the chador) is possibly the most controversial [...]
Your comments are a brilliant crystallization of BOTH sides in the burqa debate. We have a lot of conversation going on around this subject, resulting from the article I wrote a month ago:
http://www.anneofcarversville.com/journal/2009/6/28/while-the-world-debates-burqas-fashion-designers-show-beauti.html
Now — this moment — women are protesting in Sudan, wearing headbands and carrying banners in support of Lubna Ahmed Hussein, for wearing trousers. In Sudan, many men want the women back in burqas. Muslim women re being flogged.
Your thoughtful essay distills this REALITY. Muslim women ARE losing rights in many countries of the world. Seconds before reading your post (which I am reprinting in full on my website), I had this exact thought in my mind, as I read the banner and headline message in Sudan: “No Return to the Dark Ages.”
As a western woman, I’m not trying to dictate how Muslim women should dress. But you must understand and AGREE that many women are in burqas against their will. I don’t hear burqa-embracing women acknowledging that the burqa is a double-edged sword. It’s a symbol of freedom and comfort from men and society to your commentators; but it is also a symbol of severe torture and repression.
Yours is the first admission that burqas are BOTH symbols, and I thank you so much for articulating this unfortunate reality. Being much older than your commentators, I can assure you that this situation is even tougher than the bra analogy. Non bra-wearing women weren’t stoned to death. But you are right to try to convey understanding of the entire topic, and not only the side of the women wearing the burqa for comfort and personal preference.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I will add your blog on AnneofCarversville.com. With minds like yours, the world will always progress. Anne
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Sneha Krishnan Reply:
August 4th, 2009 at
Anne, thank you so much for the very thoughtful comment and for adding the article to your blog!
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What is also ignored is the fact that the real problem where the burqa is concerned is the sexual, physical and emotional violence perpetrated against women who make the choice not to wear the burqa, as well as the fact that a large number of women are forced into the veil. Rather than banning the garment itself, what governments should be focussing on is nabbing the abusers, molesters and thugs, who would deprive women of their freedom to choose.
The above para is the best..how true this is for all women infact! are any rules reg what men should wear. Do any one make a fuss if there dhotis or shirts are transparent? further are men pulled up in India when they are so often in the so called “western attire” why does this happen only with women and girls………….GIVE US OUR FREEDOM TO CHOOSE PLEASE!!…IT COULD BE ANY ATTIRE……..BURQA OR BIKINI! (WE HAVE BRAINS TO DRESS FOR THE OCCASION)
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admin Reply:
August 5th, 2009 at
Thank you, ma’am. So true, about the Western wear for men. To think that if the “Indian-only” dress codes that are forced on women in some institutions and communities in this country were forced on men, they’d be wearing Dhoties and Kurtas. How odd that it’s never been brought up in serious discussions and men happily wear pants and shirts even as girls are forced into salwar kameez.
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A very well written article bringing out both sides of the debate without bias. Have not come across many articles with this approach to the Burqa and the way a woman chooses to dress
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admin Reply:
August 5th, 2009 at
Thank you!
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I suppose it doesn’t occur to the thronging masses of agnostics and atheists who negatively judge people in possession of religious faith, that what they do is discrimination too. In fact, it is worse. For the word ‘Modern’ is oft supposed to be synonymous with ‘progressive’, which it isn’t.
You are the voice of objectivity.
Well done.
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Ironically, I am agnostic myself. I enjoy walking around in stilletoes and I wear a bra too (surprise, surprise!). Chuckle.
Feminism, as you said, is about women having the right to choose. Burqa or shocking pink fishnet stockings, it is up to us to decide. Just as it is up to us to take to task the people who decide to judge us or worse, take away from us or our sisters, this delightful right to choose.
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i just watched a gallery of photos taken in afghanistan. when i came (at last) to a photo of women. there they were. the sad blue ghosts. literally bystanders in life. no voice. no vote (unless a man agrees to it) and no future for the poor girls still able to feel the wind on their young faces. it makes me angry. it makes me depressed. it makes me hate and disrespect the cruel, hypocritical men of afghanistan who enforce it. yes. because these women are denied their rights in the name of islam and the clerics and moderate muslims do nothing. it’s a civil rights issue as important as slavery and yet the world shuts its eyes to the suffering of these women while other muslim women like you (who are lucky enough to be allowed to speak on such issues) blithely defend their right to wear the burqua. the most hateful of garments. the symbol of women’s oppression. i despair.
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Sneha Krishnan Reply:
August 19th, 2009 at
Suzanne,
Thanks for taking the time to read the article. Yes, the tent like burqa is a prison to those women whose sexual integrity is questioned every moment of their lives, as they are forced to wear the garment as a symbol of their demure sexuality. It makes me angry too, to see women unable to do most of the things I take for granted simply because it’s hard to do these things while in a burqa. A TIME magazine article on exercising in a burqa recently made me sit up and take notice. However, what I see as the thing that went wrong here is the oppression, the men taking it as their right to question women’s sexual integrity, the thugs who would force women to abrogate their political and economic rights and force them into seclusion. Any woman has the right to choose what she wants to wear. Some women find beauty in wearing the burqa. If they choose to dress this way, no government or person should stop them from doing so, because they are not acting any different from the men who force women into burqas – they too are judging the woman by her clothes, making her personal expression of her sexuality political. To many women in countries like india, it’s merely a means of expressing their religious identity, just as Hindu women might choose to wear bindis.
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suzanne Reply:
August 20th, 2009 at
Sneha,
i appreciate your reply and appreciate the idea that telling women what they can and cannot wear doesn’t seem like a big step forward for women’s emancipation.
however, i don’t understand how one separates the burqa from the symbol of opression. after all, even those who espouse wearing it out of choice say it is to do with modesty and evading the male gaze. why is the male gaze so powerful that we need to protect ourselves? are women forever to be defined by the male gaze? to hide behind a shroud is only to acknowledge that male power to sexually shame women, and further encourage men to repress women.
i don’t have to wear the burqa but everytime i see another woman wearing one it makes me feel less secure of my own human rights. do you understand? it is a big part of why there is such hostility in the west toward islam and muslims need to address this.
what if some jews felt comfortable wearing a yellow star? how would other jews feel about this freedom of religious expression? should they be allowed to wear a symbol that the nazi’s used to segregate them from others and deny their human rights? that is how i see the veil and the burqua – as a way of segregating and discouraging women from full participation in society. maybe muslim women should take a stand and refuse to wear the burqa until men stop abusing those who choose not to? when the burqa loses it’s power as a symbol of oppression, then i wouldn’t mind who wears it.
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Sneha Reply:
August 20th, 2009 at
Suzanne,
Thanks for the reply. I do understand your concern. I don’t wear the burqa either, as I am not Muslim, and often do wonder what it feels like to be inside one. It was quite painful to see a ten year old wrapped in a burqa the other day and I wondered how much it would restrict her activity.
However, I do have a lot of Muslim friends who have chosen to wear the burqa. What I’d like to say here is that to none of them, it’s a symbol of oppression. I have to disagree that women choose to wear it only to evade the male gaze. A very good friend of mine simply wears one because she loves being in this long robe, and enjoys being a Muslim. She is not the only one. A lot of Muslim women in India love to wear the burqa simply because it’s their way of saying they are proudly Muslim, and one has to allow that. Cultural pride is important to anyone. As I wrote in my article, here in India, everyone wears religion on their sleeve. Most Hindus wear Bindis and have typically Hindu forms of dress, expression and food. Even caste identity is expressed this way. Caste atrocities are among the biggest problems in India. However, banning the expression of caste identity in clothing, language or dress (Some of these things might lead to caste-related problems in many parts of India), is unthinkable simply because it deprives people of an identity. To Muslims in plural societies, it simply becomes important to assert their religious identity as a cultural symbol.
Yes, I agree with you. The burqa has been a terrible instrument of oppression in several parts of the world, most prominently Afghanistan. So it makes sense as you say, for women in Afghanistan to start a movement from within – with women as agents – refusing to wear burqa until the abuse stopped. However, this still doesn’t justify any government passing any laws against wearing burqas.
Also, I’d like to point out that bans of religious dress such as burqa only make people feel culturally marginalized. This is likely only to cause a further radicalization rather than result in anything progressive. I probably think this way, because, coming from India, I grew up as a Hindu, went to a Catholic school where I was taught by nuns for most of the time, and made friends with several Muslims along the way. All the Hindus I knew wore bindis and amulets, all the Christian kids I knew wore crosses or had rosaries or prayed and read the Bible in public, the Moms of all the Muslim kids I knew wore burqa and these girls wore it themselves. It was our way of expressing cultural identity – to belong and be individuals at the same time.
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HI Sneha
I read your and Suzanne’s exchange with avid interest. And would like to pipe in:)
While I see the point you are making, I also feel that the natural inclination of life is toward sunlight and freedom. While I agree we should respect women’s right to chose what they wear, we should also consider that sometimes choices are a culmination of a lifetime of conditioning and training. If one is trained to be a certain way and is ‘brainwashed’ enough, at some point one starts choosing to be that way, voluntarily. That does not make their choice the best one for them, or a choice that should be perpetrated through generations. Its probably kindest to leave alone those already conditioned. But we should advocate changing the very nature of any social training/conditioning that makes women feel the need to cover every inch of their body from head to toe …especially when its clearly very partial conditioning because Muslim men don’t feel the need to do so!
No matter how many arguments and justifications are made in its favor, I cannot fathom that it is natural or good for anyone to cover their face and body so completely – if nothing else, biologically our skins are made to benefit from exposure to the sun! Nature (and God if you believe in him/her) would have given us a burqa if it was essential to our survival.
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admin Reply:
August 20th, 2009 at
Shailaja,
I agree completely. However, I do think that making a law banning the burqa is not the way to go about it. No government or other agency has the right to stop people dressing a certain way. So I am not arguing in favour of the burqa itself but only against any authority dictating that women should or should not wear it. Personally, I would never wear one. However, in the political arena, banning the burqa is not at all an intelligent move – for one, it alienates a lot of people, who, because of conditioning or otherwise, enjoy wearing it; and secondly, is likely to result in nothing but the further seclusion of women who are forced into wearing the burqa. It’s unfortunate that anyone at all is forced into covering themselves up entirely for “modesty” or other reasons. But passing blanket laws is not the way to go about this.
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Sneha,
thank you for creating a forum for us women of different cultures to talk to one another! you are hindu. what about you, Shailaja?
i’m english, born protestant with an italian catholic husband, living in los angeles. america is a far more religious country than the UK and i see the fundamentalist christians here as a kind of american form of the taliban. always interfering and trying to impose their rules on others and threatening hell and damnation to anyone who doesn’t share their views. to be honest, between them and the radical muslims, i’ve become pretty much an atheist. maybe i’ll explore buddhism but i’m very suspicious now of any organized religions.
you have a point about further alienating some women (who may be prevented from going outside without covering) in banning burqa. however, without doing something, i see more and more women being coerced into wearing them and effectively being denied a choice. while women are punished in some communities for not covering how can that not have a domino effect on other women and communities?
as you say, it would be great if muslim women could refuse the burqa until men stopped persecuting those who do not make it their choice. unfortunately, it cannot be started by the women of afghanistan because they are too vulnerable already. how many of them would have to die, have acid thrown in their faces or be otherwise persecuted for exercising rights their ‘culture’ does not allow them. it is up to women of all cultures – but especially their muslim sisters, who still have freedom and voices to speak up, lobby their own clerics to speak up against this suffering and stop the oppression.
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Sneha Reply:
August 21st, 2009 at
I agree with everything you say, about empowerment and the need to support women who want to put an end to abuse. It’s important for communities within and without countries where burqa related oppression is an issue to strongly oppose the abuse of women who refuse to wear the veil. It’s unbelievably shameful that women should be stoned or flogged in this day and age for not wearing a burqa. We have written previously on this webzine about flogging incidents in Afghanistan and Pakistan and about the question of “modesty” attached to women dressing or behaving in certain ways. Again, I’d like to emphasize, in my view, it’s the abuse that should be criticized. Perhaps women who have, for whatever reason, chosen to be in the veil, along with men, should support women who have chosen not to wear the veil and proudly start a dialogue about them being equals. One thing one has to consider is how much we “progressive” people accidentally discriminate against those in the veil. For instance, there have been anecdotes of women from Iran, and other middle eastern countries being unable to find work in North America and Europe simply because they chose to wear a headscarf at all times. The suspicion of women in the veil is bound to radicalize people, and alienate them into feeling a lack of identity without the veil.
This was what I was hoping to express through my article. Perhaps I should write again and explain more clearly. I am not supporting the imposition of burqa or saying that women should choose to cover themselves up fully. However, I don’t believe a state is within its rights in banning any garment – religious or otherwise. On the other hand, if France were reaching out to Muslim women (many of who suffer abuse), with stronger social services, offering them better protection in cases of marital abuse, divorce and burqa-related harassment, making counsellors and security services alike available easier to them, with none of the prejudice Muslim women in European countries are many times known to suffer because of the stigma attached to their religion and forms of clothing and presentation, I would be fully in support of any such move. I am not defending the burqa when it is imposed on women, as it is in millions of cases in the world; I am afraid for those women whose lives are going to get worse and more ridden with stigma because of any blanket ban in law.
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henna Reply:
December 28th, 2009 at
Burkha would be really most googled term for this century!! I am Indian and I have been noticing a major change in way Muslim women are dressing in India. 4-5 years back it was difficult to differentiate between Hindu and Muslim in Pune but now I see so many Burkha, niqaabs clad women in market that it becomes quite certain that Indian Muslim society that is 0.23 billion as of 2009 is slowly getting more Islamized. Which may not be wrong becuase anyway they are Muslims and they believe and preach Islam. I have lived in Kashmir, Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkatta and am currently in Pune and am seeing that salwar kammeez dupatta is being adorned with outer garment. well I am yet to wear one and would love to wear one with great cuts!! I find Burkha sexy and Niqaab sexist!!
But question in this blog is about modesty and when hundreds of websites, you-tube, american colleges, western educational institutions invite Muslim cleric who say islam dress is only form of modest wear it does hurt one who does not wear it. There is so much psychological pressure on you, people who are creating material for these courses attack you psychologically, in west dress is given most importance along with divorce rate and in east specially India polytheistic aspect of Hinduism (Hinduism has monothestic as well as polutheistic aspects) is given most imporatnce in any such course or talk. As simple as that the way courses or talks are given it is shown that native lifestyle is worst and Islam offers best. No more broken families, no more rapes as women would be more modest, no more identity issues etc.
what I want to say is that Burkha is just another garment but the political and moral ideologies that are so strongly attached to it makes it a threat for other women who dont wear it. Burkha may have allowed lots of young Muslim Indian women to come out of homes and continue their education, But do they have choice to remove it after education if they wish to? Or they would just get married and their husbands would ofcourse not let them have this choice when it was so hard for their parents. And so it will keep on going like this.What if 1 out of this lot of 100 young women adopted burkha just for education and wanted to remove it after. Who is there to answer her cries for freedom? Afterall we always harp about minority rights, what happens to this minority? she just resigns to dictats of life or is so much conditioned that she feels fighting for her freedom as burden on her chest and leaves it for eternity.
Suzzane by name other lady seems Hindu.
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Hi, Women’s dress in Islamic culture is based on a principle of female modesty. Customs of the time, place, and social class of the woman influence what she might wear. Some options include hijab — or modest, loose clothing and a scarf over the head and under the chin — and burqa or burka, a more complete covering of the head, face and body. I have been wearing burqa for 12 years now. We as Ismalic Women feel more comfortable in wearing it. Women in islam has all freedoms. But we should also be abide by the rules of Islam. Making a women to wear a Burqa doesnt mean that Women in islam lacks freedom.Please read more on ISLAMIC Rules. You will know why Islamic women are asked to wear a burqa.
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Assalamalaikum,
The above Greeting by word of mouth itself says and indicates “May Allah Bless U and safeguard U” and it seems good and very emphatic on one s part to greet some one like this,and the reply is “Waa le kum assalam” which says May Allah Bless and safeguard U too.It is said that One should greet loudly esp.when entering someone s home as we cannot determine in what state one can be at their homes. So isn t it a good practice,so like wise even the Burqa has its own significance, Women in Islam are not forced to wear it,OR It is not that Allah subhana hu tala has imposed this way of dressing right from birth as someone has said in this blog. It is ofcourse true and justified that a Burqa is a perfect way of preserving a women s dignity and honor, any male counterpart of ours commonly prefers colorful,shining things around him and the colorful items automatically attract them, Allah has created women in such a way that anyone gets attracted towards them and esp. a male s good intentions naturally get worse upon sighting a women whose body parts are exposed, It must be very very rare hearing that a women clad in Burqa was raped right? Most of the victims are the other women who expose their body parts and who wear colorful dresses? There are a no. of people who think that the muslim women are supressed and forced to accept and follow the rules in Islam, But no it is absolutely not, May be someone who says this should read the The status of women in Islam, Islam gives the highest regard to Women comparatively., Any women clad in A Burqa feels more secure, Why may any women marry in life, it is only because she needs to be provided by the required security by her husband in life. Any good husband would never feel good if some strangers walking on the road molest his wife with their eyes, leave alone doing it Physically, It is better we leave the women to decide upon this, But one who can think and justify correctly can conclude that the Burqa claded one s are more secure than the women around them without one.
Please women folks!!! U may get humdred and one reasons to criticize the right things but remember Ultimately it is for your own bad U criticize it.Preserve ur modesty a women is not to exhibit her beauty and her body parts, A women is the one who can keep the society clean,
U adopt wearing the Burqa and realize the change.
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admin Reply:
September 23rd, 2009 at
Thank you for your comment. While I think that it is wrong of anyone to force women out of burqas (I see as a cultural symbol), we don’t agree that the burqa is essential or that women must or should wear the burqa. How a woman dresses rarely has anything to do with the sexual violence perpetrated against her. No woman is asking for it, by wearing colourful dresses or anything revealing – it is her right to dress in this way too. And it is her right that men keep their desires sufficiently under control as not to make her feel uncomfortable in any way or physically molest her. If she is molested, in whatever attire she may be wearing, it is not at all her fault, but only the fault of her molester.
Further, women have been forced into burqas in several parts of the world and all kinds of violence perpetrated on them. This is why the burqa has come to represent, for many, a symbol of repression. Still, women in several parts of the world have acid thrown on their faces and all kinds of violence perpetrated against them for not wearing a burqa. These are heinous crimes that must not be justified.
My point in writing this article was merely to state that it is wrong to legislate on women’s clothing, as that is a private matter. However, clothing should not be associated with modesty – but only with personal preference and culture. That is something I clearly highlight in the article as well.
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well said Sneha!
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Alam maybe men should wear blindfolds so they can avoid ‘molesting women with their eyes’.
Very interesting article Sneha. I wish you luck at Oxford.
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We can’t know if the Burka is opressive for women in Western society until Western society offers those who would dress in extreme modesty Burkas that allow for ease of activity. Once the Burka is modernized, see if those women participate in activities that the Burka currently doesn’t allow for. Like, read the fanmail about the Ahiida Burqini, Burka-styled swimwear for Australian Muslimn women. Modest Islamic women WANT to participate in beach activities in Australia, but refuse to be immodest. Until modern modern garment met their swimming needs they couldn’t participate in activities with their children. Now, with a modest garment made of modern material they can enjoy swimming. The Islamic faith was not the opressor, the outdated materials that current Burkas are constructed out of was the issue, because the updated Burka leads to freedom of activity, but the faith is unchanged.
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i believe clothing should be associated with modesty for both men and women . it is the duty of every beleiving and practising muslim woman and man to adorn modest clothing. for a muslim woman it is necessary that she covers herself with a loose clothing ( jilbab , hijab ).and for a muslim man it is necessary that he should not expose himself above his knees and below his waist.i wear the burqa and i do it with pride.
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I’m sure we all feel free under our burqas.
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However, I do have a lot of Muslim friends who have chosen to wear the burqa. What I’d like to say here is that to none of them, it’s a symbol of oppression. I have to disagree that women choose to wear it only to evade the male gaze. A very good friend of mine simply wears one because she loves being in this long robe, and enjoys being a Muslim. She is not the only one. A lot of Muslim women in India love to wear the burqa simply because it’s their way of saying they are proudly Muslim, and one has to allow that. Cultural pride is important to anyone
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E, point well made!
All that I see from the article and the above exchanges is “I agree, but.” The sad truth is that there are no buts about it. A human being who is forced to subjugate by means of any visible symbol, whether it’s a burqa or a tattoo or a yellow star, IS being oppressed, whether they realize it or not. When they choose to wear it on their own and start to sincerely believe in the power of the symbol, the oppression then becomes complete and irrevocable.
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If a man had to wear a burqa for one day, he would be protesting. The heat alone, and the need to breathe fresh air!!! I am American, and not Muslim, but that is my belief of the matter.
I think that if a woman wants to wear a hair covering (hijab) than I don’t think she is doing herself an injustice. And wearing loose fitting clothing is not oppresive. There is pride in showing someone what you stand for. Nevertheless, if a Muslim woman does not dress in Islamic norms, can she still be modest and a true Muslim? I believe so.
If a woman has no choice but to wear burqas, and the like because either she will be beaten and threatened, or if she feels guilty and pressured by others to do so, IS WRONG!
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[...] it or not, are intelligent, educated, free, and choose to wear the thing. Here, this may help: We Love Islam, So we wear Burqa | Sa [...]
Wow so sad ! I am an American Muslim (convert), and I should not be surprised by the backward comments , assumptions, and western superiority mind frames that I am reading, as I grew up with much of the same mentality, but still I am am saddened by the utter ignorance that people display when refering to women that cover themselves.
OPPRESSION??? Have you looked at the billboards, tv commercials , tv/movies… In the west *nd India for that matter… Women are total sexual objects , no matter how high u push that ceiling, u r still regarded and treated as sexual objects , trained to be exactly that from the youngest of ages, even if your educated its not enough , kind, nope,..smart,… Nope …Make sure you have sex appeal it is a necessity in society, all the messages thrown at girls from day oine, is be SEXY.. That is oppression , ones worth being based on sexual appeal n being trained from an early age, and you don’t even realize it , the worst kind of oppression.
I cover in the long robe and cover my face (not burqa) and I do not do so to express my ‘culture’ nor do I do so because some MAN has said I have to , rather it is a part of my faith, there are numerous wisdoms and benefits, but BOTTOM LINE is when u believe you do as your Lord has commanded knowing that indeed God created us and knows better than us what is good for us.
For the agnostics and athiests obviously that won’t make sense to you because you don’t acknowledge you have a Lord.in this case I can only advise to think more deeply about your existence and the existance of the universe and its absolute perfection , you don’t need to worry about my choice of covering you have bigger issues to ponder.
Btw, my family is majority Christian and some agnostics , I have heard these arguments against our way of dress, I am not angry at people that feel this way it’s trully out of ignorance (most of the time) ,and cultural conditioning. Just felt that you should think maybe it is you that is thinking in a certain manner due to cultural conditioning . Also, women REPORt (never mind how much it happens) being raped in America something like every 3 seconds (its been a little while since I last looked up stats but should be pretty close still) so um .. Not sure why anyone would nention rapes in Afghanistan , liklyhood is they are more predominant here, we just highlight yhe ones there because we have cultural discomfort with the covering an dgenerally Islam
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henna Reply:
March 2nd, 2010 at
Just read my earlier reply, You are convert and you may wear Burkha and anything else for that matter(ofcourse not nikaab when security officers ask you to remove). But the point here is not someone asking you to remove it, the point here is that you are so fed up of showing skin or seeing skin around you.
But if I am not then what? Can I wear Short skirt in Muslim dominated areas in Asia and Africa(I am not writing America because I consider it is still having some freedom of expression).Mostly in India it is difficult for that matter to wear short skirt even in conservative Hindu localities but If I go to any Muslim locality I won’t be comfortable.
Why? Is it just sexual apppeal or is it psychological conditioning in mind that a woman wearing short skirt is available/loose character and woman wearing burkha is just so pious………
Point in this whole discussion is how the preachers of Islam(present on Youtube and other online channels) actually make a non Burkha covered women appear as sin and denigrate her.
I know your next arguement would be to check hormone levels of how man reacts to Burkha covered woman and to others who are fully nude.
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henna Reply:
March 3rd, 2010 at
Yes Women assualt happens everywhere, from Pakistan to saudi Arabia to America to India.
But why Afghanistan or for that matter Pakistan or India make more news than rapes in America.
Afghanistan, Pakistan and India that is the chronology in which news would be reported. Question you asked was why and I tried to ponder upon that and answer came out Freedom, freedom of expression.
In Afghanistan there is least freedom from the Taliban and the law they follow, so if Women just wears loose fitting clothes(I am not mentioning any western dress just loose Salwar Kameez) but not overgarment she would be hanged or buried.
In Pakistan since it is different story, in one lane you will have families wearing short skirts, in another just salwar kameez and in next to that full head to toe Burkha. So generalising Pakistan is difficult, but still in rural regions of Pakistan or SWAT and North west border of Pakistan where Taliban presence is strong not wearing Burkha can lead to lashes on skin.
Last I took India, here if woman dresses like that in rural areas like wearing short skirt with tight top and no Dupatta(long robe covering neck and chest)(we are used to wear sarees that are knee length and that is common practice in peasant families as they work in fields)
she would be jeered at, whistled, made feel uncomfortable and later her family will ask her to wear traditional stuff.
They are three different scenarios in three different countries of Asia which are neighbours of each other. Rape can happen in any of these three countries but what I wanted to write was word “Freedom”.
Indian rural girl is also not having complete freedom but atleast she knows noone will kill her for this.
I have given very generic example it may happen that some overtly male chauvinistic families in India may kill their daughter if she wears that but that will happen seldom for a dress, it may happen more for marrying outside the family rules which we call Honour killing. That again is deplorable is against the idea of freedom.
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