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Looking
out from behind the veil--an Islamic head-covering for
the head and face--some feminists see oppression, others,
sacred tradition. But true liberation comes through
choice. Being forced to take the veil is as oppressive
as being forced to take it off. From Turkey to Iran
to Afghanistan, Muslim women have struggled with the
implications of veiling, making it one of the most controversial
aspects of Islam.
According
to the Koran, the matter is one of interpretation. In
one translation, Chapter 24 states that women "should
draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their
beautyÓ except to the men in their lives or "small
children who have no sense of the shame of sex."
The Taliban, in Afghanistan, has imposed the Koran's
prescription for modesty on all women. When Afghan women
go out in public, they must cover their entire bodies
with a head-to-toe garment called a burqa
to ward off the male gaze. There is a range of veils
throughout the Muslim world: some fall below the eyes
and others loosely cover the face. But the heavy burqa
is the most extreme, with only a mesh opening for the
eyes (pictured above). To walk or work, women have to
use one hand from the inside to hold the front together.
Those who reveal any skin in public are beaten. And
the resulting lack of sunlight and fresh air has led
to increasing cases of acute asthma, vitamin D deficiency,
and depression. Instead of tempering the male gaze,
the Taliban's veil has prevented women from seeing the
world and each other. --Anaga
Dalal
Burqa
Furnished by The Feminist majority Foundation •
Photograph by Sylvia Plachy
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