to veil or not to veil...
2003-11-09

I get angry when boys and men discuss the veil without consulting women.
I get angry when boys and men condemn women who don�t wear the veil.

A veil can be liberating. Women who wear the face cover claim it frees them from the capitalist consumerist impulse to �dress to impress�. No pressure to use make-up, less money spent on clothes (and shoes), voila~ you have a happier, less stressed life.
Some claim the tudung provides a personal space; they feel it protects them from society�s evils.

But I don�t know.
I�d be lying if I say I don�t have anything against the veil.
I do. I have everything against the veil.
Now that�s not a very politically correct thing to say, but what the hell.

I guess it irks me that women have to be responsible for men�s weaknesses.

Fatima Mernissi, a leading social scientist and feminist writer from Morocco, concluded in her book Dreams of Trespass, that men somehow came to believe that the presence of women and their uncontrollable �essence� are too dangerous.
�Passive men cannot control themselves sexually (or believe they cannot); women are lusty creatures who tempt them and lead them astray�.

Yergh.

I am in the process of doing research on matters of the veil, and I was surprised by the strong emotions I experienced as I sifted through mountains of information on the practice of veiling. Sometimes I felt I should defend it (most often this happened when the author takes a pro-West, more-enlightened-than-thou attitude); at other times I felt like burning the restrictive piece of cloth and be done with it (when authors blindly promote its pros while ignoring its cons).

When I was a kid I remember being ashamed of my mother � she worked long hours, she didn�t (and still doesn�t) wear the veil. It didn�t help that she looked younger than her age and was (still is) very attractive. I remember defending her to a classmate; I claimed that my mother would wear the veil very, very soon. Now that�s peer pressure for you. And then I grew up and forgot that shit, and took pride on the fact that my mother is a successful, progressive career woman.

Sometimes I feel guilty when I try to entice my younger sisters to abandon the veil by showing them how fabulous my life is. I�d think, �Girl, you�ll be thrown into a fiery pit of doom if you�re not careful.�

So.
I have no point.
Wear it, don�t wear it. Choose wisely, and make sure you have the courage to stick with your decision.