As I mentioned in my last post, we have been reading and discussing the graphic narrative “Persepolis”  by Marjane Satrapi. The narrative is a personal account of Satrapi’s experience growing up in Iran during the revolution. During her childhood, the ‘veil’ became obligatory for all females to wear. As she was growing up in an atheist and anti-fundamentalist family, Satrapi expressed a dislike of the veil as a child, but ultimately had to wear it to avoid imprisonment. This made me wonder how other Iranian and Islamic women felt about various religious headdresses like the Hijab and Niqab, and whether the felt them to be oppressive tools or statements of religious freedom of expression.  I also wonder how accepting we, as global citizens and as Canadians, should be about this cultural difference.

Recently in Canada, there has been some controversy about the veil, and its relevancy in Canada. In the current Canadian election campaign, the question of whether or not Muslim women are allowed to wear their Hijab at their citizen’s oath ceremony was brought up with Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Despite the fact that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom clearly allows this religious freedom, Stephen Harper claims that wearing a face covering veil is “rooted in a culture that is anti-woman.” This non acceptance of the Hijab is not only a problem in Canada, but in many other countries including France, in which the Hijab has been banned from public schools, and Tunisia and Turkey which have just recently lifted such bans in the last decade.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s reaction to women wanting to wear their Niqab during their oath ceremony.

I wanted to learn more about these veils and their religious and cultural purposes.  I discovered that the literal meaning if the word Hijab means “to veil, to cover or to screen.” Therefore, the Hijab refers to any headdress muslim women wear to veil themselves. According to the Quran, the religious text of Islam, God tells islamic men and women to dress modestly and lower their gaze. He also asks women not to show off their adornment, like hair, bodyshape, and sometimes even facial features by drawing a veil over their bodies (Quran 24:30-31).

If, infact, the Hijab is a tool of oppression like many, including Harper say it is, then why do so many muslim women immigrants continue to wear them in “free countries” like Canada and the USA? I found some interesting comments made by Islamic women who wear Hijabs on the social media site Reddit:

 

  •  “I like to use it [the veil] to promote feminism, however it is very hard to express it because of how people view it. There ARE a lot of women who are forced to wear it, and I think that’s really wrong, no matter how religious or what country.”
  • “I genuinely like wearing it. It makes me feel put together and confident in a weird way. Maybe because it does take a certain level of courage to visibly separate yourself from normal society. To start wearing a hijab I had to stop caring about what other people thought and now I can be proud of that.”
  • “It definitely doesn’t stop street harassment, but men do treat you with a bit more respect. I don’t think it’s right to treat a girl differently because of how she’s dressed but it does happen. When I’m wearing a hijab it’s much easier not to care when I’m getting leered at because what exactly is he looking at? My face?”
  • “Personally, I love wearing the hijab. Nobody could pay me enough to take it off. It honestly liberates me because I get to choose how much of myself I reveal to the public. It’s awesome. I have drawers full of a variety of vibrant colours and prints. I match them with my outfits and wear a different style every day. It’s kind of like a beautiful, religious fashion statement.”

    An example of how our ideas of feminism can be opposing and how we should not make broad judgements based on only our own beliefs.

The author of Persepolis, herself says in an interview with the international newspaper the Guardian:

“I was forced to wear the veil. If I hadn’t done it, I would have been jailed.  That is why I am absolutely opposed to the veil. Forcing women to put a piece of material on their head is an act of violence, and even if you get used to it after a while, the violence of insisting that women must cover their heads in public with a small piece of cloth does not diminish.”

However, she also said,

“But I also think that to forbid girls from wearing the veil, as the government of France [and Canada]  is considering doing, is to be every bit as repressive.  

And,

“Everywhere I go the first thing anyone wants to talk to me about is women’s veils in Iran. And I ask them, if tomorrow we take off the veil, will the problems of which it is a symbol be solved? Will these women suddenly become equal and emancipated? The answer is no.”

It is clear that there is no easy answer to the dilemma that faces both immigrants and governments when addressing the veil, but to be open minded and respectful of people’s religious and social statements. As Satrapi says in her previous quote, maybe we should leave the veil alone, and start to look at the bigger issue of this all: gender equality and freedom of expression.

Sources:

Veiled Threat: Satrapi’s interview with the Guardian on The Veil

Feminism, Fashion and Religion: Why Women Choose to Wear the Veil.

The Religion of Islam:Why Muslim Women Wear the Veil

Niqab ban during oath of citizenship escalating into a full-fledged pre-election issue