Women's Choices Surrounding Headscarves
- Molly Krupat
- Mar 9, 2023
- 5 min read
Since September of 2022, there have been hundreds of protests about women's rights in Iran. One of the things that sparked these protests was when Mahsa Amini was killed for showing a small amount of hair under her hijab. In Iran women are mandated to wear a head covering or veil. During these protests many women took off their hijabs, but many still continued to wear them, and both choices can be seen as acts of protest. Let's take a deeper look at hijabs themselves and a woman's choice in wearing them.
The use of headscarves and veils is complicated. In some countries they are required and in other countries they are banned. For many people they are an essential part of their religion, their culture and their way to express themselves freely.
Many uninformed individuals view the hijab solely as a force of oppression towards women-- something their government is forcing them to wear. However, they are actually much more than that. A common misconception is that women are mandated to wear a hijab, and while some are, many women have the choice to convey themselves in the way they feel the most confident.
First off, a hijab is a head covering that many female followers of Islam wear. There are many different styles of Headscarves/veils, but they often are put into the broader saying of hijabs. Some of the most common styles of headscarves and veils are the Shayla, hijab, hijab Amira, Khimar, Chador, Burqa and Niqab. As pictured below, starting off with the Shayla, the simplest of the headscarves where the face is left uncovered and finishing off with the Burqa that usually is black and covers all of the woman except her eyes, and is most frequently worn in Afghanistan under the Taliban's control.
Shayla-Burqa Islamic Veil diagram courtesy of Veiling trends for Muslim Women
Many Muslim women choose to wear a headscarf because the Qur’an instructs them to dress modestly. While there are many different opinions on what modest wear means, many Muslim women do have the choice when it comes to how much skin they should cover, and depending on their religious viewpoint they can decide what feels best for them.
A short documentary filmed in 2016, Al Jazeera: The Veil, takes a look into three separate Egyptian Muslim women's lives and interviews them on their different choices of headscarves & veils.
The first woman interviewed, Shaimaa, is a 23 year old journalist who began wearing the hijab a few months previous to this interview. While she originally felt pressured by her peers into wearing the hijab, she now has begun to respect what it has done for her. Shaimaa believes that she will only go to heaven if she continues to wear her hijab, and states, “I once went to cover a religious seminar on heaven, and the characteristics of people who go to heaven made me feel that I was missing something, and that I would not go to heaven unless I do it. So I wear the hijab since that day”. Since she began consistently wearing a hijab, she has also seen changes in her daily life that have pushed her to continue covering her hair. Shaimaa notices that other people, especially men in her community have shown her more respect when she wears a hijab. Shaimaa’s interview demonstrates the reasons for why many women who have the ability to choose a hijab do in fact choose to continue wearing it even when not obligated.
Image of Khadija Mahamud wearing her hijab, courtesy of Glamour
The second woman, Myriam, is young and married with a young daughter. She chooses to completely veil herself in all black (black is the most modest color in her opinion) and not show any skin. This type of covering is typically called a Niqab or Burqa, depending on how much of the eyes are revealed. Myriam did not start wearing her full veil until after her marriage, and she claims her husband was encouraging of the transition. Myriam is very set on her choice and believes, “I would not like to show myself around. I value who I am, so therefore I’d like to be protected” . Myriam adds on to this idea by using the simile of a woman being like a diamond to exemplify keeping herself safe and not showing herself to others. Myriam is very happy with her choice and has no plans to change back to a less modest veil in her future.
Photograph of women dressed in Burqas, courtesy of The Sun
The third woman named Nora chooses to not wear any sort of headscarf or covering. She explains that this is her choice because she feels it's what lets her express herself the most. She describes how the different colors, styles and patterns of clothing make her feel confident. Nora also talks about how she never felt part of the religious community, and unlike Myriam, she doesn’t feel like following the Islamic beliefs is the best way to live her life. Although Nora no longer holds up Islamic values, God is still important to her. She states, “One of the most important things for me to God is the way I dress, the way I express myself”. Nora's clothing may be different from traditional Islamic values, but not wearing a veil is a crucial part of her relationship with God. While Nora notes that she respects other women's choices in their headscarves as well as what makes them indicate their individuality, overall she feels the most free without a veil and she is glad she has a family and a country that will allow her to do so.
While many women do have the freedom to choose, many are not as lucky. In March of 2021, France banned women from the ability to wear a hijab or any covering similar in public. Meanwhile in Afghanistan, Iran, and many other middle eastern countries, women are forced to wear Burqas, and they can be punished by death if they don’t.
During the Iranian protests this past fall many women burned their headscarves as an act of rebellion, but just as many kept theirs on to show that the government should not control every aspect of their lives. Furthermore, it’s not just countries that continue to restrict women's freedom of choice in veils, it's also schools, organizations and public places. Again, these restrictions are often due to Islamophobia as well as the stereotype that headscarves are a symbol of violence, hatred and oppression
Photograph from Iranian Protests, courtesy of The Christian Science Monitor
Freedom to choose what you wear on your head should be a given. Everyday women continue to fight the oppression of their governments on hijabs, something that can seem like a simple issue from an outside perspective, but has a large impact on many lives. Shaimaa, Myriam and Nora are just a small insight into the women who are able to choose what they want to clothe themselves with. Shaimaa demonstrates how someone can change their ideas, Myriam shows how it is alright to follow the rules of a religion and how being modest is not a symbol of oppression, and Nora exemplifies how it's beautiful to express oneself however they feel most confident. Women are strong, smart, kind, courageous and many other things no matter how they choose to express themselves with what they wear, and a woman should be seen and valued for more than what they choose to clothe themselves in.
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