The Politics of Dress: Double Standards in the Headscarf Debate

Written on September 10th, 2016 in politics Comments Off

Published on Spiegel Online International, an Essay by Christiane Hoffmann, Sept 9, 2016  - translated from the German by Christopher Sultan.

When cultures clash, women’s clothing is often at the center of the debate. While for Western women, the issue is how much skin they should be allowed to show, for Muslims the focus is on how much they must show.  

In Iranian archives, there is a collection of photos from the late 1930s. They show women and men dressed in European clothing, and the women are not wearing a chador or headscarf. The images are oddly troublesome: Some women look at the camera in horror, while others have their gazes affixed to the ground. The photos are of Iranian aristocratic families, taken at the instruction of Shah Reza Khan at the height of his campaign to unveil his country’s women. He wanted Iran to become a modern country, Western-oriented, and he saw the chador as a symbol of its backwardness. The ban was far more violently enforced on the streets of Tehran than the burkini ban on French beaches. Women’s chadors were ripped off in broad daylight … //

Specific Social Morals: … //
… The Male Gaze: … //
… Whatever a Woman Chooses: … //

… Nowhere has the headscarf debate been waged as bitterly as in France. As long ago as 1989, in the so-called headscarf affair, three girls were expelled from school for refusing to remove their headscarves. In 2004, the government enacted a general headscarf ban in public primary and secondary schools, and the burqa was banned in 2011. There are also now laws in Germany regulating where women are permitted to wear the headscarf and where not. The battle over the headscarf shows us the limits of our own, enlightened liberalism. Suddenly we no longer know just how liberal we want to be. We disguise our own illiberality with the claim of wanting to liberate the women of other cultures.

Perhaps capitalism will prevail in the end, and in this instance, it might not be such a bad thing. Western fashion labels are now designing Muslim fashion. DKNY was one of the first, with its 2014 Ramadan Collection. Conversely, oriental fashion is also influencing Western fashion designers. Perhaps we will see the rise of a global non-dress code, in which essentially everything goes – including whatever a woman chooses to wear.

(full text).

Links:

Europe: The (Turned Off) Human Rights Lighthouse, on Social Europe, by Ludovico De Angelis, Sept 9, 2016;

He ran to ambulance, it exploded, 5.18 min, on RT, Sept 9, 2016 … RT exposes ISIS’ evil tactics in Libya (EXCLUSIVE);

Japan Isn’t Playing Neoliberalism’s Word Games, on naked capitalism, by Clive, Sept 9, 2016;

Nach heftiger Kritik: EU zieht umstrittenen Roaming-Vorschlag zurück, im Spiegel Online, 9. Sept 2016: die EU-Kommission knickt ein: eigentlich wollte sie das kostenfreie Roaming auf 90 Tage befristen, jetzt zieht sie den Vorschlag zurück. Der heftige Protest von Bürgern und Verbraucherschützern zeigte offenbar Wirkung …; (siehe auch: Roaming-Pläne der EU-Kommission: Wo sich Bürger jetzt beschweren können);

The Maritime Silk Road: China’s High Seas Ambitions, on Spiegel Online International, by Bernhard Zand, Sept 8, 2016 (Photo Gallery): with its Maritime Silk Road, China is tapping the world’s oceans for its own strategic purposes. It’s a bold plan that is causing unease in India and the United States — and also has implications for Europe;

Black to School: The Rising Struggle to Make Black Education Matter, on truthout, by Jesse Hagopian, Sept 8, 2016;

A New Economic System for a World in Rapid Disintegration, on truthout, by C.J. Polychroniou and Lily Sage, Sept 8, 2016;

Denmark’s hippie commune pushes us outside our comfort zone, for that alone, it’s worth discovering, on economy.org, by Ioan Marc Jones, Sept 8, 2016: the recent shootings in Christiania highlight the tension between its liberal ideals and the realities of the drugs trade. But despite its troubles, Ioan Marc Jones still believes there are things to be learnt from their alternative economic system;

India looking at alternatives to crude oil imports, says Nitin Gadkari, on Domain B, Sept 7, 2016;

India will soon be zero petroleum import country – Nitin Gadkari , on The Economic Times, India, by PTI, Sept 6, 2016;

Lendogram optimizes Sharing Economy, offers alternative to throw-away consumerism, on The Sociable, by Tim Hinchliffe, Sept 6, 2016;

Zur Ukrainekrise und Medienmanipulationen, 55.25 min, von Gerry Michel am 21. Jan 2015;

Crash Course Chemistry, uploaded by Crash Course: The Nucleus – #1, 10.11 min, … until The Global Carbon Cycle – #46 … (Crash Courses also for Physics, Games, Philosophy, Economics, U.S. Government and Politics, Astronomy, Psychology, World History 2, Anatomy and Physiology … more playlists;

… and this – LATINOS:

uploaded by Enrique Iglesias VEVO:

  • Noche Y De Dia ft. Yandel, Juan Magan – Enrique Iglesias, 4.43 min;
  • DUELE EL CORAZON (Remix) – [Lyric Video] ft. Gente de Zona, Wisin, 3.20 min;

uploaded by Mundo Urbano:

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