The Banning Of The Headscarf

Within the Middle East, the largest population of the men and women are Muslim. The Muslim religion suggests that the women wear a veil or hijab, which is a headscarf that only exposes a woman’s eyes, accompanied by a burqa which is a full body cloak. The sole purpose of the clothing is to cover a woman’s feminine features from men’s eyes. The Qur’an, an Islamic scripture supports, and slightly obligates the uniform by saying that women are to be conservative, “Let them wear their head covering over their bosoms, and not display their ornaments.” (Qur’an). Muslim women, instead of feeling oppressed, view this as a positive aspect in their lives, influenced by their devotion to Allah. Their acceptance could be influenced by their

Muslim women living in North America and Europe often face scrutiny over their choice to wear the veil, even though many Western people do not fully understand the practice.

The banning of the burqa has become an issue in many places, including France. The French Parliament has decided it is time to ban the burqa in public. They believe is a sign of the subjugation and submission of women to males. Some believe it is used to cover up abuse and they also believe it is unfair to the public that citizens cannot see the women’s faces. However it is unfair for these women to be banned from wearing what they choose as just everyone else does.The banning of the burqa should not be allowed because it is discriminatory towards Muslim women and violates their freedom of religion and their freedom to express themselves.

The dress code of a large number of Muslim women centrally revolves around the burqa, which is a head-to-toe garment worn exclusively by women for the purpose of concealing their bodies and/or face. The burqa is viewed as a symbol of deep faith in the Muslim religion. The burqa is worn throughout most Muslim and Middle Eastern nations, with a few democratic or liberal governments being less strict about its use. Many Western nations argue that the burqa represents pure female oppression to a largely male dominated nation. It is the physical sign which states that for their own safety, women must be invisible to men in order to protect men

Muslim people as well as Arabs are very misunderstood and generalized by people of the west. There is a belief that religion and race are intertwined, being Arab does not mean you are Muslim and vice versa. Therefore saying that certain practices in Arab countries are oppressive to all women of one religion is inaccurate statement. Even in most of these “oppressive” countries women have the rights equal to the rights of men. Not taking advantage of those rights are due more to cultural pressures and not religious pressure. Many people that understand the meaning and reasons behind wearing a headscarf view it more as a form of liberation rather than a form of oppression. Those that argue that wearing the headscarf is oppressive fail to realize that just like anything else in life wearing the headscarf is optional and cannot be forced upon anyone, which raises the question what is oppression and why do people feel that the headscarf is oppressive?

Around the world the hijab, niqab, burqa, and other veils Muslim women wear are being criticized and made into news stories and or debates about whether Muslim women should be allowed to veil. Muslim Women are taking a stand against Western critiques of veiling by breaking down the critiques positioned by the West and Western feminists; in addition Muslim women are expressing autonomy and their self-determination for their right to choose to veil which leads to critiquing power of the state. (Ferrero)This essay will first outline the critiques of veiling and their historical context, then move to discuss how specific Muslim women see their lives and express their self-determination and finally the essay will conclude will an overall view of how Muslim women are critiquing the power of the state in order to control decisions regarding their

People are known to stereotype one other. This article brings to light the fact that people don’t take the time to understand different cultures and just automatically assume things. A burka is not worn by all muslim women and in different countries they have very different meanings. In Turkey wearing one represents your want to overthrow the government by others, whereas most women wear them solely for their god and not for anyone else. Muslim women are no different then American. They are all unique and have their own beliefs and contribute to society and have educations just like the rest of us.

The veil people in Iran wear is very important. “For some women in the muslim world, the veil they wear is for a symbol of oppression. for others, it’s a symbols of freedom. Women are requires a veil that covers the body and the face. Under the Taliban 's strict laws, violators are punished by beating or stoning.”

“Hijab is not a sign of oppression but liberation from the shackles of male scrutiny and the standards of attractiveness”. Western society views Muslim women as oppressed and the hijab as a symbol of their oppression. For Muslim women hijab is viewed as liberation for women, in that the covering brings respect and women are recognized as individuals who are admired for their mind and personality, not for their beauty and not as sex objects. Muslim women today are struggling to address the stereotypes and misconceptions of uneducated and oppressed associated with the role of women in Islam.

the dress code of Muslim women and the veil in particular, has become controversial in many non-Muslim countries.It is considered by many as a sign of oppression of Muslim women, a security threat, or double standards where non-Muslim women visiting Islamic countries are obliged to accept local dress codes while Muslim women visiting non-Islamic countries are not willing to accept the principle. Others, however, see the attempts to ban the burqa in public as a sign of disrespect, and double standards where a Christian religious may wear their religious dress, but Islamic women can not wear her religious habit. Controversy about the discriminatory dress code for Muslim women and non-Muslim women or girls slaves under Muslim rule, nothing new

For many people, any clothing that covers the whole female body including the face. Is a strong symbol of the oppression and enslavement of Muslim women. It is a constant

The compulsory hijab not only has affected the Iranian dominant Twelver Shia Muslim community, but also has been exercised for religious minorities and non-Muslim tourists. This has led to the formation of a new social and national identity. It is worth noting that there are different forms of hijab, and this variety can be observed in different countries and cultures, which is severely tied with culture and social identity.

Within the Middle East, the largest population of the men and women are Muslim. The Muslim religion suggests that women wear a veil or hijab, which is a head scarf that only exposes a woman’s eyes, accompanied by a burqa which is a full body cloak. The sole purpose of the clothing is to cover a woman’s feminine features from men’s eyes. The Qur’an, an Islamic scripture, supports and slightly obligates the uniform by saying that women are to be conservative, “let them wear their head covering over their bosoms, and not display their ornaments.” (Qur’an). It could be inferred that women wear the burqa and veil willingly because of their geographical location. However, when Muslim women are withdrawn from the Middle East, and are placed

Muslim females, starting in their early teens, began wearing head scarves of many different types. The first kind is a niqab. This is a full face veil (Awan para. 17) with an opening for the eyes (Edmonds 2). Secondly, islamic women may wear an abaya. This is a full body cloak that covers everything except for the eyes (Edmonds 2). Also, they may wear a hijab. The word hijab can be used to describe all religious headscarves (Edmonds 2), but it usually refers to a specific headscarf that covers the head and chest area (Awan para. 9). Finally, they might wear a burkini, a full body swimsuit with an attached burqa, so they can participate in summer activities. No matter what type an Islamic women decides to wear; they start wearing them around ten to twelve years old to show their commitment to Allah, and express their purity, dignity, courage, and self

Those in favor of the ban argue that bans are necessary to promote gender equality. Loenen points out that, ‘a major argument put forward to ban headscarves in public schools derives from the idea that the headscarf is symbolic of the inferior position of women in Islam and that many girls and women are pressured into wearing it’ . It is worthwhile to note here that the same argument was also used by the ECtHR in Dahlab, where it held that the wearing of the headscarf was hard to square with, among others, the principle of gender equality . Furthering its view in Dahlab, in Sahin, ECtHR held that the ban on the wearing of the Muslim headscarf at universities in Turkey served the legitimate purpose, amongst others, of promoting gender equality. Vakulenko suggests that in both these cases, ‘the headscarf was attributed a highly abstract and essentialized meaning of a religious item extremely detrimental to gender equality’ .