Questioning the Veil: Open Letters to Muslim Women
Marnia Lazreg
Language: English
Pages: 168
ISBN: 0691150087
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
Across much of the world today, Muslim women of all ages are increasingly choosing to wear the veil. Is this trend a sign of rising piety or a way of asserting Muslim pride? And does the veil really provide women freedom from sexual harassment? Written in the form of letters addressing all those interested in this issue, Questioning the Veil examines the inconsistent and inadequate reasons given for the veil, and points to the dangers and limitations of this highly questionable cultural practice. Marnia Lazreg, a preeminent authority in Middle East women's studies, combines her own experiences growing up in a Muslim family in Algeria with interviews and the real-life stories of other Muslim women to produce this nuanced argument for doing away with the veil.
An incisive mix of the personal and political, supported by meticulous research, Questioning the Veil will compel all readers to reconsider their views of this controversial and sensitive topic.
Lazreg stresses that the veil is not included in the five pillars of Islam, asks whether piety sufficiently justifies veiling, explores the adverse psychological effects of the practice on the wearer and those around her, and pays special attention to the negative impact of veiling for young girls. Lazreg's provocative findings indicate that far from being spontaneous, the trend toward wearing the veil has been driven by an organized and growing campaign that includes literature, DVDs, YouTube videos, and courses designed by some Muslim men to teach women about their presumed rights under the veil.
An incisive mix of the personal and political, supported by meticulous research, Questioning the Veil will compel all readers to reconsider their views of this controversial and sensitive topic.
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television and easier travel between countries is a very thin protection from men in the flesh or in images. The veil constrains the body, in one way or another, in spite of efforts made to represent it otherwise. Protection, one main rationale for veiling, protects no one. Wearing Modesty, Age, and Sex When modesty encompasses feelings in which shades of shame and shyness merge and crystallize on the female body, its meaning is easily subverted. It becomes a measure 32 Letter One of a
breasts. In this they look no different from their non-Muslim American or French counterparts, except that they add a headscarf, elegantly wrapped around the head and face. They also wear makeup that enhances their beauty. Strictly speaking, they have complied with the customary norm that a woman’s body must be covered from head to foot. But the clothing reveals more than it conceals, except for the hair, and thus the locus of modesty is in the headscarf. Why is hair important to hide?26 Is it
obligation to wear the veil or refrain from work outside the home.31 Some argue that poor women find it economically advantageous to wear a hijab as they save money on clothes. Modesty 35 This may indeed be the case for individual women. However, a poor woman still must wear some clothes under her veil, which also cost money. Furthermore, she could wear the same dress just as she purportedly wears the same hijab whenever she leaves her home. The economic explanation of the hijab conceals yet
women were to jettison the veil. But it would mean that male advocates of veiling would have to make adjustments to their perception of themselves. They would have to understand that they are no less men for accepting women as their social equals—for accepting that a woman’s body is hers to live, not a man’s pre- Why Women Should Not Wear the Veil 121 rogative to regulate in its most minute details of grooming, dressing, and (most important) experiencing. Conversely, a woman would have to ask
2005). 30. See, among others, Jean-Paul Willaume, “The Cultural Turn in the Sociology of Religion in France,” Sociology of Religion 65, 4 (2004). 31. See Monica Mookherjee, “Affective Citizenship: Feminism, Postcoloniality and the Politics of Recognition,” Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 8, 1 (March 2005): 31–50. 32. See my Eloquence of Silence, especially the introduction. 33. “Warrior for Al Qaeda Used Internet to Rally Women,” New York Times, May 28, 2008. 34.
