In defense of the hijab

I am a western educated and socialized young woman in her early twenties, and sometimes I am actually jealous of women I see donning the hijab.

I am jealous because they are given a reason to practice modesty. In north america, I think the general perception is that women wearing a hijab [or, 'that scarf they cover up in'] belong to that strange religion Islam which, although in many ways a cousin of Christianity and Judaism, is far removed from the conscience of normalcy in the West. So the whole thing is strange, but in the way that nobody judges one particular hijab-donning woman from the rest- its a strange monolithic association which may actually afford this demographic some respect. Not necessarily the good kind- because it is their collective otherness which admits of their own normalcy. Anyways, let me be clear, I am building on what I used to think as a young north american girl before any kind muslim girl informed me otherwise.

So back to what I was saying. I am jealous because in the west there is a terrible amount of pressure from so many institutions of society on young women. And let me anticipate the argument that talking about young women as if they don't have a choice devoids them of their credit as potential intellectuals. This is not what I am saying. Rather, I am talking about expectations, because I think expectations are very important to one's choices. We choose to live up to expectations, but as for who decides what those expectations are, that is where the differences are born.

In my experiences here in the beacon of freedom [as it considers itself], I had girls in my art class in grade 9 who on and off for a few months pecked at me to wear make up. They said because I was good at art, I would be good at painting my face; a blank canvas. At about the same time I had a stepmother saying I would be prettier with a little bit of make up and fixing. This is the realm of expectations. These were the direct dialogues I can remember between my peers and myself. The indirect influence is the reinfornced body type in most magazines, with similar blank expressions and hapless adventures. In short, I grew up in the anti-thesis of what one could consider as practicing modesty, or feminine modesty. It is not really expected of north american girls.

The way the west views the sexual liberation of women, and the ever-increasing level of women-as-object status is also what informs the basis for critique of the hijab. In short, muslim women lack the freedom to sell themselves short- at least, that's what I'm getting from all these considerations. The hijab is implicitly an instrument of oppression; rather than an act of self-respect and modesty- at least, that's the bizzare way the west understands this phenomenon.

And I feel it is also necessary to point out the difference between a hijab and a burqa, although this introduces the critique which I would call slippery-slope nonsense. Basically, forget which one covers more- thats not a good starting point of analysis. Consider it a matter of the extent to which women are expected to participate in this custom- if it is legally enshrined, that is one thing.

But even then- we must look at ourselves and recognize our own sense of acceptable and unacceptable behaviour as highly arbitrary and tyrannical, if we are to accept the argument that enforced wearing of the hijab is oppressive because it is legally enforced.

Basically, if we are so free and unoppressed, why on those summer days are women still not topless? we have our own, if minimal, sense of modesty which prevents us from doing what many may consider a rational response to natural conditions. Why for so long have gays and lesbians been legally banned from marrying? social constructions of what is natural, or mere tradition itself- whatever the cause, thats not what im interested in. It is the existence of our own oppressive conventions, or the fact that many have only been recently reversed.

So as a north american I am jealous. It would be weirder for society for me to wear a scarf around my head as a non-muslim trying not to be a north american either. I am not expected to be modest, I am expected to believe I am free. I think I will wear a scarf around my head and see what that's like, though implicitly what I will recognize as different flows in the direction of the north-american experience to the modest experience; the basis of my recognition being the negation of my north american experience, rather than the positive affirmation of my experience as being modest in the first place.

Just as one north american woman wearing a scarf around her head may notice blokes looking unusually in her eyes when she goes to speak, an un-hijab'd woman may notice the subtleties of a north american fellows wandering eyes and superficial engagement when his object is engaging him, but both experience the opposite of what they may be comfortable with. Perhaps. This of course is the problem of comparing subjectivities. I am only contextualizing how I have felt on days I want to dress more conservatively, from days i have dressed more... whats the word, liberally? democratically? haha. Good way to end this thought.

For once I admit I am a conservative.

I guess that's today's bad news.