BA2 CLASS READING - FASHION IN SOCIETY - VEILING GROUP SEMINAR PRESENTATION - this reading is extracts (...) from the set text.

THE VEIL IN THEIR MINDS AND ON OUR HEADS: VEILING PRACTICES AND MUSLIM WOMEN. HOOMA HOODFAR. 1997.

The practice of veiling and seclusion of women is pre-Islamic and originates in non-Arab Middle Eastern and Mediterranean societies (Nashat 1988; Keddie and Beck 1978). The first reference to veiling is in an Assyrian legal text that dates from the thirteenth century B.C., which restricted the practice to respectable women and forbade prostitutes from veiling (Keddie and Baron 1991:3). Historically, veiling, especially when accompanied by seclusion, was a sign of stays and was practiced by the elite in the ancient Greco-Roman, pre-Islamic Iraniain, and Nyzabtine empires. Muslims adopted the veil and seclusion from conquered peoples, and today it is widely recognised, by Muslims and non-Muslims, as an Islamic phenomenon that is presumably sanctioned by the Qur'an. Contrary to this belief, veiling is nowhere specifically recommended or even discussed in the Qur'an (Mernissi 1991). At the heart of th Qur'anic position on the question of the veil is the interpretation of two verses (Surah al-nut, verses 30-31) that recommend women to cover their bosoms and jewelry; this has come to mean that women should cover themselves. Another verse recommends to the wives of the Prophet to wrap their cloak tightly around their bodies, so as to be recognized and not to be bothered or molested in public (Surah al-Ahzab, verse 59). Modern commentators have rationalised that since the behaviour of the wives of the Prophet is to be emulated, then all women should adopt this form of dress (Bedawi n.d.)... Significantly, it is only since the nineteenth century, after the veil was promoted by the colonials as a prominent symbol of Muslim societies, that Muslims have justified it in the name of Islam, and not by reference to cultural practices (Esposito 1988).

Although the boundaries of veiling and seclusion have been blurred in many debates, and particularly in Western writing, the two phenomena are separate, and their consequences for Muslim women are vastly different. Seclusion, or what is sometimes known as purdah, is the idea that women should be protected, especially from males who are not relatives; thus they are often kept at home where their contact with the public is minimised. Seclusion may or may not be combined with the veiling that covers the whole body.

It has been argued that seclusion developed among Mediterranean and Middle Eastern societies because they prefer endogamous marriages; consequently they tend to develop social institutions that lend themselves to more control of young people, particularly women (Tillon 1983). The argument is made even more strongly for Muslim women because they inherit wealth and remain in control of their wealth after marriage... It is an irony of history that the more economic rights women have had, the more their sexuality has been subject to control through the development of complex social institutions. Nonetheless, outside the well-to-do social elites, seclusion was rarely practiced to any considerable degree, since women's economic as well as reproductive labour was essential for the survival of their households. In reality, the majority of social classes, particularly in rural settings, practiced segregation and sexual division of labor rather than seclusion...

The veil refers to the clothing that covers and conceals the body from head to ankle, with the exception of the face, hands, and feet. Incidentally, this is also very accurate description of the traditional male clothing of much of the Arab world... The most drastic difference between male and female clothing worn among Arab urban elite was created with the Westernization and colonialization of Muslim societies in the Middle East and North Africa. Men, particularly, began to emulate European ways of dress much sooner and on a larger scale than women did.

Although in Western literature the veil and veiling are often presented as a unified and static practice that has not changed for more than a thousand years, the veil has been varied and subject to changing fashion throughout past and present history. Moreover, like other articles of clothing, the veil may be worn for multiple reasons. it may be worn to beautify the wearer (Wikan 1982), much as Western women wear makeup; to demonstrate respect for conventional values (Hoodfar 1991; Abu-Lughod 1986); or to hide the wearer's identity (Fernea 1965). In recent times, the most frequent type of veiling in most cities is a long loosely fitted dress of any colour combination, worn with a scarf wrapped (in various fashions) on the head so as to cover all the hair. Nonetheless, the imaginary veil that comes to the minds of most westerners is an awkward black cloak that covers the whole body, including the face, and is designed to prevent women's mobility. Throughout history, however, apart from the elite, women's labour was necessary to the functioning of the household and the economy, and so they wore clothing that would not hamper their movement...

Although clothing fulfils a basic need of human beings in most climates, it is also a significant social institution through which important ideological and nonverbal communication takes place... Accoring to Muslims, women should cover their hair and body when they are i n the presence of adult men who are not close relatives; thus when women put on or take off their veil, they are defining who may or may not be considered kin (MacLeod 1991). Furthermore, since veiling defines sexuality, by observing or neglecting the veil, women may define who is a man and who is not (Pastner 1978). for instance, high-status women may not observe the veil in the presence of low-status men.

In the popular urban culture of Iran, in situations of conflict between men and women who are outside the family group, a very effective threat that women have is to drop their veil and thus indicate that they do not consider the contester to be a man (Hoodfar 1991).' (Hoodfar in Welters and Lillethun, 2011, pp.275-277).

REFERENCE


Hoodfar, H. in Welters, L. and Lillethun, A. (eds) (2011) The fashion reader. 2nd edn. Oxford: Berg.