In yesterday’s class, we discussed
Leila Ahmed‘s essay “Reinventing the Veil.” In her article, Ahmed explores the various reasons why Muslim women in Western societies are choosing to veil themselves, ultimately challenging her own assumptions about what the veil symbolizes, concluding that “the veil can have multiple meanings” (307). I was reading more about the veil and, particularly, updating myself on France’s “burkini ban” (which we were discussing at the end of class in WR112 E1). To learn more about the ban, check out
this post from news site France24, and then check out
this follow-up post about the ban being overturned. After reading through these various online articles about the burkini, I found
this article from The Guardian (an international news source), written by journalist Amelia Hill. The article focuses on a recent study on women’s decisions to wear the veil and their views of integration. The study, conducted by two researchers from the sociology department at the University of Oxford, shows that “attempts to force Muslim women to stop wearing the veil might…be counterproductive by depriving them of the choice and opportunity to integrate: if women cannot signal their piety through wearing a veil, they might choose or be forced to stay at home” (Hill). In this way, the results of the study demonstrate that veiling can actually be a sign of more integration rather than less.
Consider Marcelo Gleiser‘s views on the unrealistic possibility of cultural unity due to what he views as people’s innate tribal tendencies. In what ways do France’s “burkini ban” (and debates surrounding France’s commitment to secularism) and the veiling study from the University of Oxford serve as further evidence for and/or counterarguments to Gleiser’s view?
Respond either to this post or to the “Cultural Gains and Losses” post before class time on Friday, 10/19. Refer to the Blog Response Evaluation Criteria handout (BB > Handouts > Unit 2) to review expectations for your response.
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The innate tribal tendency does exist in human being. People tend to view the world in their lenses, which comes from their own religious beliefs, cultural values, and education. The debate in France’s commitment to secularism precisely reflect that tribal tendency. As it is mentioned in the article, some of the French official believe that veiling resembles a repression towards women. Such beliefs are covered with Western influence and its education of democracy. From their point of view, it would be logical to think that veiling is an act to separate women from the society. However, Muslims themselves, pertaining their own values, only treat the veiling as symbol of their religious piety, and moreover, an important part for women to integrate into the society, because their religion require Muslim women to wear veils. Both views actually represent the tribal tendencies within the world. While France’s ban of burkini may seem to be an act of “integrating” the society by homogenizing the clothing style and banning religious symbols, such homogenization is based on western standards. For example, people are wearing western style clothing. Isn’t that another act of assimilation, by stripping away people’s identities? From my point of view, such ban is more of an invasion from a culture to another. It is still a tribal conflict. Different cultural and religious backgrounds give people different ways to integrate into the society. As it is revealed in the study from University of Oxford, for Muslim women who are highly religious, veils are their way of approaching the globalized world. I believe cultural unity does not necessarily mean a world of homogenized religion, homogenized clothing and homogenized people. It can mean a culture that comprises all the differences among the population, and such variations are appreciated and respected by members of that unified society.
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Through Ahmed’s article, we have learned that women who practice Islam have worn the hijab as a cultural habit. After the rise of Islamism, the influence of this political ideology manifested the Muslim community internationally and turned their women to wear hijab as a symbol of patriarchal oppression. Unlike Gleiser’s idea of Globalization, things took a turn where Muslim women are adopting western ideals of gender justice and turned their veils as a weapon against the sexual discrimination of their conservative principles. This can be seen as a successful case of cultural assimilation where two completely different cultures are able to merge together. However, France’s action to ban ‘burkinis’ serves as a good example of how tribalism and ignorance can be an obstacle to achieve a truly globalized world. Western countries, who may not be informed about the context of the resurgence of veils in recent years, sees these Islamic veils as a threat to their idea of gender equality. Thus, as an attempt to reject this foreign belief, they would find ways to remove any traces of it in their society. The Oxford study also supports Gleiser’s stance as more educated Muslim women are wearing veils to “not succumb to the temptations of modern urban life”.
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