Modesty Versus Stigma: International Perceptions of Muslim Women's Clothing
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58575/ki.v3i2.40Keywords:
Dress, Muslim Women, Hijab, Head Covering, Burqa, VeilAbstract
For far too long Muslim women have been targeted mainly for the way they are dressed. Their clothing is normally loose fitting, not see through or they do not wear the clothing designed for men. Many of them also wear hijab or some style of head covering or headscarf. These coverings have other names such as: burqa, niqab and chador. They wear the fore mentioned clothing as a form of modesty from unrelated men and obedience to Allah. They are directed by Allah (Almighty GOD) to dress in this fashion. Allah says, “And tell the believing women that they must lower their gazes and guard their private parts, and must not expose their adornment, except that which appears thereof, and must wrap their bosoms with their shawls, and must not expose their adornment, except to their husbands or their fathers or the fathers of their husbands, or to their sons or the sons of their husbands, or to their brothers or the sons of their brothers or the sons of their sisters, or to their women, or to those owned by their right hands, or male attendants having no (sexual) urge, or to the children who are not yet conscious of the shames of women. And let them not stamp their feet in a way that the adornment they conceal is known. And repent to Allah O believers, all of you, so that you may achieve success.” (Quran 24:31) There are established worldwide policies or laws that forbid or prohibited Muslim women from dressing the way they are commanded by Allah.
The research design was exploratory allowing for the flexibility needed for this study. The study’s method was qualitative from secondary data through a literature review and conducted standardized questionnaires.
Collected reviewed literature and random completed constructed standardized questionnaires by 6 Muslim women and 4 Muslim men had presented an array of viewpoints regarding how they were treated just based on their dress.
Downloads
References
Piatti-Crocker, Adriana, and Laman Tasch. 2015. “Veil Bans in Western Europe: Interpreting Policy Diffusion.” Journal of International Women’s Studies 16 (2): 15–29.
Aydin, Hasan. 2010. “Headscarf (Hijab) Ban in Turkey: Importance of Veiling.” https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=9fedd446dcdae7ddd3 1697895519e8d8498929f0
Li, Yufei. 2022. “Wearing Hijab: A Right or Constraint?” BCP Education & Psychology 7 (November): 314–20. https://doi.org/10.54691/bcpep.v7i.2682.
Li, Yufei. 2022. “Wearing Hijab: A Right or Constraint?” BCP Education & Psychology 7 (November): 314–20. https://doi.org/10.54691/bcpep.v7i.2682 , 314-20.
Bjoernaas, Therese Ignacio. 2015. “Saving Muslim Women: A Feminist-Postcolonial Critique of Veiling Legislation in Norway.” Islamophobia Studies Journal 3 (1): 78. https://doi.org/10.13169/islastudj.3.1.0078, 3
Bjoernaas, Therese Ignacio. 2015. “Saving Muslim Women: A Feminist-Postcolonial Critique of Veiling Legislation in Norway.” Islamophobia Studies Journal 3 (1): 78. https://doi.org/10.13169/islastudj.3.1.0078.3.
Howard, Erica. 2012. “Banning Islamic Veils: Is Gender Equality a Valid Argument?” International Journal of Discrimination and the Law 12 (3): 147–65. https://doi.org/10.1177/1358229112464450.,147-65.
Howard, Erica. 2012. “Banning Islamic Veils: Is Gender Equality a Valid Argument?” International Journal of Discrimination and the Law 12 (3): 147–65. https://doi.org/10.1177/1358229112464450.,147-65.
Najib, Kawtar, and Peter Hopkins. 2019. “Veiled Muslim Women’s Strategies in Response to Islamophobia in Paris.” Political Geography 73 (August): 103–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2019.05.005.,103-11.
Najib, Kawtar, and Peter Hopkins. 2019. “Veiled Muslim Women’s Strategies in Response to Islamophobia in Paris.” Political Geography 73 (August): 103–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2019.05.005, 147-65.
Yeste Garcia Carme, Ouarda El Miri Zeguari, Pilar Álvarez, and Teresa Morlà Folch. 2020. “Muslim Women Wearing the Niqab in Spain: Dialogues around Discrimination, Identity and Freedom.” International Journal of Intercultural Relations 75 (March): 95–105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2020.02.003, 95-105.
Piatti-Crocker, Adriana, and Laman Tasch. 2015. “Veil Bans in Western Europe: Interpreting Policy Diffusion.” Journal of International Women’s Studies 16 (2): 15–29., 15-29.
Osman, “Legislative Prohibitions on Wearing a Headscarf”, 1317-48.
Osman, Fatima. 2017. “Legislative Prohibitions on Wearing a Headscarf: Are They Justified?” Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal/Potchefstroomse Elektroniese Regsblad 17 (4): 1348. https://doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2014/v17i4a2167, 147-65.
Osman, Fatima. 2017. “Legislative Prohibitions on Wearing a Headscarf: Are They Justified?” Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal/Potchefstroomse Elektroniese Regsblad 17 (4): 1348. https://doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2014/v17i4a2167, 147-65.
Osman, Fatima. 2017. “Legislative Prohibitions on Wearing a Headscarf: Are They Justified?” Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal/Potchefstroomse Elektroniese Regsblad 17 (4): 1348. https://doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2014/v17i4a2167, 147-65.
Previsic, Ivana. 2017. “Neoliberalism and Gender Equality: Canadian Newspapers’ Representations of the Ban of Face Coverings at Citizenship Ceremonies.” Review of European and Russian Affairs 11 (1). https://doi.org/10.22215/rera.v11i1.253, np.
“List of Countries Where Hijab Is Banned.” 2022. Jagranjosh.com. March 15, 2022. https://www.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/list-of-countries-where-hijab-is-banned-1647354865-1.
“Hijab Ban Stays in Karnataka: A Look at Countries Where Veils Are Barred.” 2022. Firstpost. March 15, 2022. https://www.firstpost.com/world/hijab-ban-stays-in-karnataka-a-look-at-countries-where-veils-are-barred-10460931.html.
Aydin, Hasan. 2010. “Headscarf (Hijab) Ban in Turkey: Importance of Veiling.” https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=9fedd446dcdae7ddd3 1697895519e8d8498929f0
“Hijab Ban Stays in Karnataka: A Look at Countries Where Veils Are Barred.” 2022. Firstpost. March 15, 2022. https://www.firstpost.com/world/hijab-ban-stays-in-karnataka-a-look-at-countries-where-veils-are-barred-10460931.html.
“The Controversy of Banning Niqab in Public in Egypt | Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.” n.d. Eipr.org. https://eipr.org/en/blog/ishak-ibrahim/2020/05/controversy-banning-niqab-public-egypt.
Amara, Tarek., 2019. “Tunisian PM bans face veils in public institutions after bombing.” https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tunisia-niqab-security/tunisian-pm-bans-face-veils-in- public-institutions-after-bombing-idUSKCN1U01BZ/
Reuters Staff. 2018. Algeria bans wearing of full-face veils at work. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-algeria-politics/algeria-bans-wearing-of-full-face- veils-at-work-idUSKCN1MS346
Pew Research Center. 2020. “Most Western Europeans Favor Restrictions on Muslim Women’s Religious Clothing | Pew Research Center.” May 30, 2020. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/09/17/most-western-europeans-favor-at-least-some-restrictions-on-muslim-womens-religious-clothing/.
Djohar, “Rewriting 9/11 or US Invasion of Iraq”, 129-39.
Dars, Basheer Ahmed, Muhammad Nabeel Musharraf, and Arshad Munir. 2020. “The Dress Code for Muslim Women.” Journal of Islamic and Religious Studies 3 (1): 27–37. https://doi.org/10.36476/jirs.3:1.06.2018.11, 27-37.
Khokhar, Faiza J. 2021. “Reclaiming the Narrative: Gendered Islamophobia, Its Impacts and Responses from Muslim Women.” Social Identities, December, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504630.2021.2006624. , 267-87.
Canning, Victoria. 2018. “Islamophobia and Securitization: Religion, Ethnicity and the Female Voice.” Journal of Language and Discrimination 2 (1): 118–23. https://doi.org/10.1558/jld.36238, 118-23.
Carland, “We’re Islam in Their Eyes”, 654
Babacan, Muhammed. 2022. “‘Were You Treated Differently Because You Wore the Hijab?’: Everyday Islamophobia, Racialization and Young Turks in Britain.” Ethnicities 23 (1): 146879682211261. https://doi.org/10.1177/14687968221126196. , 64-87.
Steele, Rachel R., Sakina Bengali, Gwynne Richardson, Mackensie Disbennett, and Yasmeen Othman. 2021. “Muslim Women Negotiating Their Identity in the Era of the Muslim Ban.” Journal of Gender Studies, December, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2021.2016382. , 707-18.
Tetreault, Chantal, Sara Tahir, Amara E. Ezeamama, and Farha Abbasi. 2019. “Muslim Women’s Ethical Engagement and Emotional Coping in Post-Election United States” Journal of Muslim Mental Health 13 (1). https://doi.org/10.3998/jmmh.10381607.0013.103.
Ahmed, Leila. 1982. “Western Ethnocentrism and Perceptions of the Harem.” Feminist Studies 8 (3): 521. https://doi.org/10.2307/3177710, 521.
Carland, Susan. 2011. “Islamophobia, Fear of Loss of Freedom, and the Muslim Woman.” Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations 22 (4): 469–73. https://doi.org/10.1080/09596410.2011.606192, 469-73
Zempi, Irene. 2019. “Veiled Muslim Women’s Responses to Experiences of Gendered Islamophobia in the UK.” International Review of Victimology 26 (1): 96–111. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269758019872902, 96-111.
Chakraborti, Neil, and Irene Zempi. 2012. “The Veil under Attack.” International Review of Victimology 18 (3): 269–84. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269758012446983, 269-84.
Ibid., 269-84.
Terman, Rochelle. 2017. “Islamophobia and Media Portrayals of Muslim Women: A Computational Text Analysis of US News Coverage.” International Studies Quarterly 61 (3): 489–502. https://doi.org/10.1093/isq/sqx051, 489-502.
Shabir, Aamina, and Tanveer Ahmad Khan. 2022. “Media as an Instrument of Reflection or Distortion of the Real Life Problems of Muslim Women in India.” Journal of Social Inclusion Studies 8 (1): 86–96. https://doi.org/10.1177/23944811221096943, 86-96.
Satiti, Nur Latifah Umi. 2017. “Representation of Muslim Women in the Western Media.” Semantic Scholar. https://doi.org/10.24002/jik.v14i2.789. , 189-202.
Lalani, Nasir, and Irfan, “Glass Ceiling for Women Who Wear Hijab.”, 316-27.
Spink, Jeaniene. 2005. “Education and Politics in Afghanistan: The Importance of an Education System in Peacebuilding and Reconstruction.” Journal of Peace Education 2 (2): 195–207. https://doi.org/10.1080/17400200500185794
Mesbahi, Nima. 2018. “The Victimization of the ‘Muslim Woman’: The Case of Amina Filali, Morocco.” Journal of International Women’s Studies 19 (3): 49–59.
Meetoo, Veena, and Heidi Safia Mirza. 2007. “‘There Is Nothing “Honourable” about Honour Killings’: Gender, Violence and the Limits of Multiculturalism.” Women’s Studies International Forum 30 (3): 187–200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2007.03.001, 187-200
Mahmoud, Ibtisam M., Aron Zaltz, and Hilmi M. Zawati. 2013. “An Extended Interview with Dr. Hilmi Zawati, President of the International Legal Advocacy Forum on Wartime Rape in Syria and Libya.” SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2294602.
Evolvi, Giulia. 2019. “The Veil and Its Materiality: Muslim Women’s Digital Narratives about the Burkini Ban.” Journal of Contemporary Religion 34 (3): 469–87. https://doi.org/10.1080/13537903.2019.1658936, 469-87.
Azizi, Parand, and Kamal Halili Hassan. 2014. “Iranian Women, Sport and the Hijab Issue.” Social Sciences 9 (6): 492–98. https://doi.org/10.3923/sscience.2014.492.498, 492-98.
Ibid., 492-98
Hamzeh, Manal. “FIFA’s Double Hijabophobia: A Colonialist and Islamist Alliance Racializing Muslim Women Soccer Players.” Women’s Studies International Forum 63 (July 2017): 11–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2017.06.003, 11-16.
Saherwala, Z., Bashir, S., & Gainer, D. (2021). Providing culturally competent mental health care for Muslim women. Innovations in clinical neuroscience, 18(4-6), 33.
Tackett, Sean, J. Hunter Young, Shannon Putman, Charles Wiener, Katherine Deruggiero, and Jamil D. Bayram. 2018. “Barriers to Healthcare among Muslim Women: A Narrative Review of the Literature.” Women’s Studies International Forum 69 (69): 190–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2018.02.009, 190-911.
Ibid., 190-911
Mokhtar, Rafidah Hanim, Noor Fadzilah Zulkifli, Azizi Ayob, Asral Widad Ahmad Asnawi, Amira Ismail, Nur Hazlin Hazrin Chong, Mohd Eqwan Mohd Roslan, et al. 2022. “Religious Discrimination among Working Women in Malaysia.” Oarep.usim.edu.my. https://oarep.usim.edu.my/jspui/handle/123456789/19917.
Haque and Khan, “Rape as a Tool of Political Mobilization”, 327-33.
Fadnis, Deepa. 2022. “Understanding Multidimensionality of Muslim Women’s Experiences of Sexual Violence through the News Coverage of the Bilkis Banu Gang Rape Case in India.” Journalism Practice, February 2022, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2022.2032284, 127-49.
Noreen, Naveeda, and Prof. Dr. Razia Musarrat. 2013. “Protection of Women Rights through Legal Reforms in Pakistan.” Journal of Public Administration and Governance 3 (4): 119. https://doi.org/10.5296/jpag.v3i4.5059, 119.
Arcel, L.T. 1998 “Sexual Torture of Women as a Weapon of War — the Case of Bosnia-Herzegovina.” European Psychiatry 13 (January): 159s. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0924-9338(99)80103-5
.Bannerji. Himani. “Demography and Democracy: Reflections on Violence against Women in Genocide or Ethnic Cleansing.” BRILL EBooks, (September 2020), 499–513. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004441620_023.
Dagkas, Symeon, and Tansin Benn. 2006. “Young Muslim Women’s Experiences of Islam and Physical Education in Greece and Britain: A Comparative Study.” Sport, Education and Society 11 (1): 21–38. https://doi.org/10.1080/13573320500255056.
Islam, Muslim, and Societies. 2014. “Muslim Women in Higher Education in India and Pakistan: A Comparative Study.” A Social Science Journal 7 (1). https://www.muslimsocieties.org/Vol7_1/Muslim_Women_in_Higher_Education_in_India_and_Pakistan.pdf.
Piatti-Crocker, Adriana, and Laman Tasch. 2015. “Veil Bans in Western Europe: Interpreting Policy Diffusion.” Journal of International Women’s Studies 16 (2): 15–29.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
