The Muslim Veil

The veil is an umbrella term for different types of face, head or body wear worn by some Muslim women to hide the form of their bodies. Like any other item or symbol, the veil can take on many meanings. To the western world, this could represent oppression under a patriarchal society; the women are forced to wear a veil by their husbands and fathers to protect their modesty. It is the view that Orientalist feminists subscribe to, in which Islam is seen as a static and backward religion and has been used to justify specific policies, such as the unveiling of Muslim women to achieve modernity. Although it is thought that the veil is mandatory in the Qur’an, it is only implied and can be interpreted as such. Thus some historians have argued that

One can argue that it is simply an item of clothing; its meaning varies from person to person. For many Muslim women in the west, the veil is a choice, through which they are able to express themselves; it is part of their identity.

One of the most common views about the veil is that it is the most potent symbol of a patriarchal society. This takes on the Orientalist trope of Islam as a religion incapable of progression, wherein women are second-class citizens treated as sexual objects by men, and so the veil is seen as an object which allows fathers and husbands control over their daughters or wives. Therefore, early western feminists, such as those from the International Woman Suffrage Alliances that was founded in 1904, saw Muslim women as passive victims unable to overcome their own oppression. However, they acknowledged that patriarchal authority was present across the globe, but considered their oppression to be unequal. Some of these ideas still remain to this day and play a role in policy making. For example, France’s decision to ban the veil in schools in 2004 was due to increased

Although this was done in the name of modernity (to emulate the West), it was done without women’s consent and deprived them of their own choice, which ‘[led] to the social isolation of women who refused to unveil.’ These women, who felt ‘naked’ without some form of covering, would often stay at home, and became dependent on their husband’s income. Furthermore, apart from the economic impact, veiled women were also limited in the public sphere; their access to government positions were denied and they were unable to enjoy their previous leisurely activities. Despite this being the unveiling of women, the act demonstrates that women were seen as signifiers of certain ideals, and the veil as an object that men could use to manipulate women. Even through banning the veil in an attempt to throw off Orientalist tropes, this form of westernisation had led to a different form of oppression for women: whilst some rejoiced, others had suffered. In her article, Hoodfar notes after an interview with an Iranian woman, that were few objections by men to the new legislation, ‘since men always wanted to keep their women at home’. This suggests that on one hand, the veil is a potent symbol of the