The Power headscarf:
emancipatory Possibilities of a New headscarf style for Young dutch Muslim women
Laura Mora
Utrecht University, the Netherlands
E-mail: [email protected]
ABSTACT
he increasing number of Muslims in Europe gave rise to a hijaber phenomenon that no longer fears to show a religious identity by using hijab. However, conditions that are still less support actually positioned these hijabers in situations that are less comfortable. Discriminatory treatment is still oten they receive only because they are veiled, both rom family and rom the surrounding environment, especially the rejection received by the converts. his rejection of hijab is primarily due to the phenomenon of Islamophobia that infects almost all countries in the world, including in Europe. his paper aims to capture the discrimination and discriminatory treatment experienced by the hijabers in the Netherlands as well as the real efort they are undertaking to respond to this challenge, one of their eforts is to innovate models and creations of hijab, so that hijab is no longer the reason for the treatment Discriminatory against them.
Key Words: Hijaber; Model; Religious
aBsTAK
Penolakan terhadap hijab ini terutama disebabkan oleh fenomena islamopobia yang menjangkiti hampir seluruh negara di dunia, termasuk di Eropa. Tulisan ini bertujuan untuk memotret penolakan dan perlakuan diskriminatif yang dialami oleh para hijaber di Belanda serta usaha nyata yang mereka lakukan untuk menjawab tantangan ini, salah satu usaha yang mereka lakukan adalah dengan inovasi berbagai model dan kreasi hijab, sehingga hijab tidak lagi menjadi alasan atas perlakuan diskriminatif terhadap mereka.
Kata Kunci: Hijaber; Identitas; Model
Introduction a.
he headscarf is a controversial piece of clothing in the current Dutch society, because in politics and media it symbolizes the tension between the ‘oppressing’ Islam and the ‘free’ Netherlands (Moors, 2009: 195). In the light of this context, the phenomenon of the Dutch (converted) Muslim woman that voluntarily chooses to wear the headscarf, as if she chooses to become a foreigner (allochtoon), is remarkable (Nieuwkerk, 2004: 235).he decision to wear a headscarf is not easy, because it can result in clashes with family, friends or at work. he stereotype images that society has about veiled women, oten don’t correspond to the intentions, aims and ideas with which a Muslim woman wears a headscarf.
he born and converted Muslim women in this thesis all voluntarily chose to wear a headscarf or have this wish to do it in the future. A Muslim woman can experience pressure to wear a headscarf or pressure not to wear it. In this thesis I will mainly focus on the pressure against the headscarf that is experienced in interactions with a non-Muslim environment, family or work. his pressure can result in the procrastination of wearing a headscarf, or a study/career switch, which could be experienced as having limited options. In the family sphere a headscarf can be the cause of emotional arguments between parents and daughter and even forced eviction. Despite the possible risks, Dutch Muslim women continue to choose to wear a headscarf with full conviction.
for their discrimination, but only that they have the agency to master certain situations and inluence them positively. Dutch Muslim women have all the tools within reach: knowledge about the Dutch culture, about the Islamic theory, and as a result of that a Dutch practice of Islam.
From an Islamic point of view I’m interested in the discrepancy between the broad space within Islamic theory for cultural expressions like clothing, and the limited use that Western Muslims sometimes make hereof. Converts oten chose automatically for a Turkish or Moroccan type of headscarf, while at the same time stressing their Dutch identity and the fact that Islam is not bound to merely Oriental cultures. he creation of a unique Dutch Muslim identity, with a new headscarf style that contradicts stereotypes about foreigners or Muslims, could possibly bridge that discrepancy. For this reason, my research question is: In which ways can a new headscarf style create emancipatory possibilities for young Muslim women within Dutch society?
To answer this question I interviewed born and converted Muslim women, and asked them for their motivations to wear a headscarf (in the future) and which obstacles they experience(d). In the irst part of this thesis I will analyze the relationship between the headscarf and Dutch identity, the headscarf and acceptance of the family, and the headscarf and career prospects (discrimination in the workplace). I will also ask the women which solutions they came up with.
In the second part of this thesis I will argue that the existing solutions of the Dutch Muslim women are not suicient and could be much more creative and active (instead of reactive). Clothing is a language, but the headscarf oten doesn’t communicate the message that a Muslim woman wants to convey. To create a new headscarf concept, I will ask the women what they would like to communicate with their headscarves.
Islamic identities. To ind out whether Dutch Muslim women are open to developing their own identity, I asked what they think of the concept of ‘a Dutch Islam’.
he last paragraph explains why fashion could be an efective instrument to counter discrimination issues. It also explores which Islamic fashion is known to Dutch Muslim women and whether they are willing to experiment with fashion and creativity and their expectations of it.
his thesis is relevant for the understanding of the diverse ways Muslims give shape to their daily practice as citizen of Dutch society. his thesis shows that despite gender-based discrimination and Islamophobia, the Dutch Muslim women that participated in the interviews feel that he Netherlands is their country and want to contribute to their acceptance. By broadening the deinition of ‘emancipation’ – by deining it as ‘using knowledge and creativity in order to stay ahead of discrimination instead of only batling it’ – the agency of Muslim women can be analyzed in a way that is useful in the context of Islam and gender.
he most important literature forming my theoretical framework comes from the disciplines of anthropology, (political) philosophy and gender studies. he theorists all have a speciic vision on discrimination, emancipation, feminism, Islam in the West and conversion to Islam. hese theories helped to deconstruct the stereotype image of Muslim women as victims of their religion and men, and supported my vision of Muslim women as self-assured women with agency and ambitions for their faith, social relationships and careers. I do however believe that, based on a positive feminist atitude, Muslim women can ight injustice more actively and more creatively.
discussion and result B.
Intersectionality 1.
In the beginning of the 1992s Kimberlé Crenshaw introduced the term ‘intersectionality’ in the Gender Studies (1991). Intersectionality is a way of analyzing discrimination and identity construction, by taking into account diferent elements of identity and seeing them as inluencing each other. A discrimination case is oten looked at from the angle of just one element, such as gender. But intersectionality theory argues that gender can’t be seen separately from ethnicity, nationality, class, religion, age, sexuality, profession etc (Botman, 2001).
When young girls (convert and) wear a headscarf, it doesn’t only afect the aspect of religious identity, but also other aspects like ethnicity, profession, class and sexuality. Gloria Wekker explains that these aspects can determine someone’s position in public life and the expectations people have (Botman et al, 2001). he headscarf cannot be seen separately from being a woman, being Muslim, being young and having ambitions in life. Sexuality also implicitly plays a role because the headscarf is worn oten to keep sexual beauty private to oneself. Class plays a role when the headscarf leads to the perception of a woman from belonging to the dominant culture (without headscarf) to being a second-class citizen.
feminism 2.
In her recent study ‘Feminism in Multicultural Societies: An analysis of Dutch Multicultural and Postsecular Developments and their Implications for Feminist Debates’, Eva Midden argues that feminism should be more inclusive, rather than excluding certain women (Eva, 2010: 240).he emancipation of Muslim women with headscarves I therefore see as a part of feminism. Midden also states that emancipation means more to Muslim women than having the same career opportunities as men. Emancipation is for them the freedom to make their own choices but also taking into account their faith and the demands of family and friends (2010: 239). Exploring possibilities for ighting unjust situations of Muslim women’s lives is not just a feminist duty, but also an Islamic one. In Islam men and women are worth exactly the same, and women have the responsibility to develop themselves and improve their position in society.
countering discrimination 3.
he discrimination of women wearing headscarves is a structural and ideological problem, based on very old ideas, but also ideas that are created every day again and again, reinforced and put into practice. Philomena Essed brought this everyday racism to light (Essed, 1990: 2). She argued that the meaning of racism is not only the extreme (violent) cases, but also the more subtle things that happen every day. For example, when a woman with headscarf is being asked if she masters the Dutch language, it can be seen as every day racism.
Because the ight against discrimination is not inished overnight, it is important that Muslim women don’t get discouraged or accept discrimination. Muslim women cannot be blamed for their discrimination but it is possible for them to take responsibility and make the choice to wear the headscarf easier by taking action instead of only reacting. Saba Mahmood’s deinition of agency describes this atitude: agency is not an opposition or struggle against the environment, but an opportunity to take action (Mahmood, 2001: 220).
emotions as a result of discrimination, but it wants people to become active, move and evolve through these experiences. In other words, it «puts the motion back into emotion» (Braidoti, 2006: 235-254).
converts 4.
Karin van Nieuwkerk wrote in her research “Veils and wooden clogs do not go together: female converts and the construction of Dutch national identity” that the construction of Dutch identity is based on the Islam as the ultimate Other. he concept is framed in this way: the Dutch woman is progressive and liberated, contrary to the backward Muslim woman. When a Dutch woman starts to wear a headscarf, she won’t be seen any longer as Dutch. A headscarf and wooden clogs are framed as two mutual exclusive things, whereby wooden clogs symbolize Dutch identity (Nieuwkerk: 245).
Vanessa Vroon-Najem analyzed the way Dutch converts use their capacity to act to change their lives, and describes this in her article «Pushing the limits of Dutchness: agency and change in the context of female conversion to Islam». Vroon counters the dominant view of the Muslima as oppressed by her religion, by showing that converts borrow empowering values from their religion that contribute to their agency.
dutch Islam 5.
Islamic fashion 6.
Annelies Moors has studied the phenomenon of Islamic fashion. Her article “Islamic Fashion in Europe: religious conviction, aesthetic style, and creative consumption” shows that Muslim women in he Netherlands are interested in fashion and that they want to convey messages with their clothes. Moors has found that Muslim women are very aware of the fact that their headscarf communicates certain things to other people (Moors, 2009: 196). Following this, I examined the discrepancy between the message Muslim women want to convey and what they actually communicate to their non-Muslim surroundings, or more speciically, their ideas on how others perceive them.
Internal and external clashes 7.
Motivations and obstacles a.
An open question about the motivations of the interviewed Dutch Muslim women to wear the headscarf or procrastinate it, brought some clashes to light. Eva Midden mentioned in a recent survey four main reasons for Muslim women to wear a headscarf: resistance, religion, identity and family/community (Eva Midden, 2010: 152-153). I’m curious which reasons my interviewees themselves mention, because it illustrates their consideration of barriers on one side and motivations on the other side.
MotivationsOf all the interviewees, nine women wear a headscarf (of which one born Muslim), some since several months and some since several years. he other fourteen people don’t wear a headscarf permanently, but say they wish to do so in the future. heir motivations are roughly divided into four categories. Half of the girls mention as a reason that the headscarf is part of Islam and it is mandatory. Other motivations are: keeping their feminine beauty private, showing their Muslim identity, and because they feel comfortable with it.
the Dutch culture. A second reason is the opinion of family and friends, which is actually related to the irst.
dutch identity b.
Since the 1950s Islam became visible in he Netherlands, when immigrants from mainly Suriname and Indonesia and later Morocco and Turkey came to the Netherlands for diferent reasons. Islam is oten regarded as an Eastern/Oriental religion, the religion of the immigrants. Moreover, as the religion of the minorities that do not integrate well into society, precisely because Islam is supposedly incompatible with Dutch norms and values (Nieuwkerk : 233).
Converts seem to have an impossible task to combine their headscarves with their Dutch identity, because they are no longer considered Dutch when wearing a headscarf (Vroon-Najem, 2007: 19). In this section, I examine how the headscarf relates to their Dutch identity, and what the headscarf means for their position as women, as Muslims and as Dutch citizens in this society.
An interesting discrepancy comes to light: when a Dutch Muslim woman wears a headscarf, she notes that the non-Muslim environment no longer perceives her as a ‘real’ Dutch. She changes her faith and her appearance, but simultaneously this puts her in another box connected to images of ethnicity, class, profession, atitude, education etc (Moors, 2009: 192).he automatic linking of the headscarf with a foreign culture and stereotyping hereof is racist and sexist (Nieuwkerk: 229),and not only born Muslims but also converted Muslims will be afected by this ( Vroon-Najem, 2007: 22).More than half of respondents actually experienced that they aren’t considered ‘real’ Dutch anymore with headscarf.
Prejudices about the headscarf contribute to the stereotyping of the Muslim woman as the ultimate opposite of Dutch people. Jasmin Zine called it ‘the oppressed Muslim woman paradigm’ (Zine: 13) and mentions the backwardness that is atributed to Muslim women. In contrary, Dutch women are represented in Dutch discourse as emancipated and capable.
Wearing a headscarf oten means that women lose certain privileges that were taken for granted before, because their (blond) hair is no longer visible in public space. Or, in the case of born Muslims and converts from migrant backgrounds, the chance to discrimination increases as their religion becomes visible: they can be discriminated not only for racist reasons but also Islamophobic reasons. his is experienced as disturbing, since these women do regard themselves as Dutch, and because they are expected to speak poor Dutch, to be of a lower class and non-modern. his puts pressure on Muslim women to prove they are true Dutch women too, and as much capable and emancipated. hey want to be considered as equals instead of inferiors.
However, Muslim women feel the responsibility to counter these stereotypes by fulilling a role as ambassador of Islam, and function as a bridge between Muslims and non-Muslims, or ethnic Dutch and ‘foreigners’). his means half of the women ind it important to have an accessible physical appearance. Others ind it less important because they want to let their personality speak in countering stereotypes and building bridges. However, since the veiled Muslima is oten not seen as ‘real’ Dutch, building bridges can be a diicult task. Because the headscarf oten forms a physical barrier, one has to prove herself more through personality (conversations, behavior, etc.). his puts great pressure on them, since they feel they have to always act representational (or keeping up appearances), while they are also merely human beings with shortcomings.
acceptance by family c.
he second obstacle to wear a headscarf is related to parents’ opinion about the headscarf. he American convert Nicole Queen, known for her fashion statements, explains this in an interview:
understands. It’s a public display to everyone you know past and present, that you have converted to Islam and are devoted to it.”
his section examines the struggles parents have with the headscarf, which emotions or events are related to this, which role this plays in the decision to wear a headscarf, and whether (convert) women understand the opinion of their parents.
Two-thirds of the veiled interviewees say their parents - albeit with diiculty - accept that their daughter wear a headscarf, even though they ind it ugly, incomprehensible, or they just hide their true opinion. Half of the non-veiled women expect their parents to accept it when they take this step in the future, even though they would like to do everything in their power to try to prevent them from doing so.
One third of the veiled women said their parents didn’t accept the headscarf, and half of the girls who are planning on wearing one also expect objections from their parents. Many parents do not accept the headscarf as long as their daughter lives at home, but when their daughter lives on her own they cannot forbid it.
he result is that the choice of the headscarf is accompanied by strong emotions of both converts and their parents, and that the relationship possibly gets troubled. For some women this is the main reason not to wear it, or wait till they move out to live on their own. Convert understands that her parents have issues with the headscarf, and therefore she takes it of when she visits them on weekends. As a result she feels she is forced to live a double life. Even though the women understand the opinion of their parents, they ind it unjust. here must come a solution to make this process smoother: a sort of compromise or temporary solution.
discrimination and career d.
he previous section showed that for example the parents are concerned about their daughters’ career prospects. I’m wondering if these concerns – not the prejudices – are grounded some reality. he following text is a website for employers, Recruitment and Selection Guide, an online guide for equal treatment in recruitment, job interviews and selection.
when rejecting a veiled Muslim woman (Hermans, 2002).Women who are rejected because of their headscarves, are discriminated against on the basis of their gender and religion simultaneously (intersectional). he article continues:
“he LBR concludes that this form of discrimination has major implications for Muslim women. hey avoid certain professions or ields of work because they have litle chance inding a job or they become discouraged to even work at all.”
For the Muslim women I have interviewed, discrimination in the workplace is a current problem. In section 3.1 (Motivations and obstacles) it became clear that the headscarf isn’t easy to combine with a career. he closed questions about this topic, showed that all respondents aspire a career (whether or not at the top). However, three-quarters of the respondents said they either experienced discrimination in the workplace on the basis of the headscarf, or expect to be discriminated in their future careers.
Half of the respondents will accept a rejection or concession in the future, because; this is reality, sometimes there is no choice, she chooses herself for a headscarf, because it is too painful to hear a ‘no’ as an answer, there are plenty of other options, God will provide for a beter job, and because you have to keep on trying.
Every Dutch Muslima deals with the combination of scarf and career in her own way. In this section I want to take a closer look at some of the examples. I am particularly interested in the question whether future plans change because of the headscarf, what ways are found to circumvent discrimination and the role that career plans have in wearing a headscarf.
concessions to the headscarf 8.
It is sad that discrimination is such an issue that Muslim women oten have to choose between wearing a headscarf and pursuing their dream career. It would give these Muslim women more freedom of choice and equality in opportunity, when the headscarf is not a threat to their professions.
concessions to future career plans 9.
Most interviewees that want to wear a headscarf change their future plans because of (expected) discrimination: convert changed her study from Hairdressing to Social Pedagogical Work. Other convert now studies Communication instead of going to the Fashion Academy. he other one probably has to quit her job in security when she will wear a headscarf.
he atitude of the converted medical student is the most common one: she expects to be faced with discrimination, but she accepts rejections. She would just try to apply for a job somewhere else, because she wouldn’t want to work at a discriminative place anyway. She also trusts in God, and she is conident that she can overcome possible conlicts about the headscarf and that it won’t disadvantage her at the end.
enhancing acceptance 10.
Eighteen women, of which seven veiled, said that they ind the acceptance of their headscarves important. It difers whether they think it is important that only close relatives accept it or also the people at their work. Some women however ind acceptance irrelevant, since they have to be comfortable with it themselves and it is not so much other people’s business. But the majority thinks acceptance makes life easier in general and gives the opportunity for people to see her as a human being instead of reducing her to her headscarf.
as Muslims, they feel a responsibility to disprove stereotypes and leave a positive impression. his is even stronger in the public space or at work (Moors, 2009: 195).
By far the fewest people indicated that they want to leave a positive impact by their dresses or style of headscarf. his doesn’t necessarily mean that they don’t adjust their clothes to the ideas of non-Muslims – because the data show they care – but it says something about the degree of importance to them. he most important instrument is their behavior, then dialogue, and only then comes the style of clothing and headscarf. But the women admit that their strategies are not always efective enough, and they are open to inding new solutions.
New headscarf style 11.
Muslim women can expand their agency, what they would like to communicate with their headscarves, why fashion is a good instrument to be one step ahead of discrimination, and how a new scarf style can help create a unique identity and reduce (internal) clashes.
agency 12.
Several organizations have tried to counter everyday racism of veiled women, by challenging prejudices. Examples of such organizations are Stichting Ontsluiert (Foundation Uncovers)5 and Al Nisa, founded in 1982 by Dutch convert women.6 In 2010, Al Nisa held a successful poster campaign, called ‘Echt Nederlands’ (Truly Dutch), with the aim to show the diversity among Muslim women and their Dutch identity, as a playful counterbalance to the prejudiced political debates in he Netherlands
agency is not an opposition or struggle, but an opportunity to take action (Mahmood: 220).
Ater researching Egyptian Muslim women, Mahmood developed an interesting deinition of agency: «the capacity to realize one’s own interests against the weight of custom, tradition, transcendental will, or other obstacles (whether individual or collective)». My interviewees only partly live up to this deinition: on the one hand they deliberately chose to go against their culture by wearing a headscarf, on the other hand they can’t achieve some goals because of discrimination and have to become more active and creative to overcome obstacles.
he Muslima doesn’t have – like anyone else – the power to change her surroundings but she does have control over her own headscarf: not only the choice to wear it, but also the choice how she wears it. I believe that the Muslima can limit the degree of discrimination by developing a new style. According to Braidoti’s airmative action this could even transform negative situations into positive situations (Braidoti, 2006: 235-254).With the power headscarf, the Dutch Muslima can pursue her goals and aspirations. A Muslima who seems to break with all the stereotypes, internal and external, so that she can be herself while her social environment accepts it and while she doesn’t experience that many barriers anymore in the workplace. A scarf that enables her to be a Muslim and an equal Dutch citizen, instead of being othered.
appearance 13.
surprising and creative scarf style, that communicates other things than the standard headscarf.
his is not at all about a headscarf style that is less covering or ignores Islamic principles. It is about creating a look that is closer to Dutch culture and not per deinition Oriental. his can be achieved for example by using head covering as known in Western history. Or by using objects that don’t derived directly from the scarf (like hats, hoodies, caps and rules) and combining it with Western modern clothing that covers the neck and bosom (turtlenecks, tunics, blouses, blazers, shawls). A scarf with new connotations, which communicates what the Muslima wants to communicate herself. To explore what message women want to convey I asked them several questions about their self-image and the image that others of them might have.
Prejudices 14.
Nearly all Muslim women see themselves as an independent emancipated woman, because of free upraising, their character, education, self-determined atitude, independent living, and women’s rights in Islam. Only four women think that others (non-Muslims) also see them in this same way. However, eleven women think that non-Muslims see them in a very diferent way: oppressed, poorly educated, and not as strong woman. his discrepancy is a source of discrimination of these women. It is easier to wear a headscarf when non-Muslims would perceive them as emancipated as without.
Half of the interviewees think a new scarf style doesn’t make a diference, because ‘a headscarf remains a headscarf ’ and people will not see the diference between the diferent styles. he other half however thinks a new style does have an impact on how people perceive them, precisely because of the power of fashion and clothing in terms of social acceptance. It is the religious, political, economic, ethnic etc. connotation of the headscarf that gives rise to tensions between Muslims and non-Muslims. he aesthetics and variety of colors and shapes can afect the appearance of a Muslima positively in a total diferent way.
Islamic dress (Moors:197).he more beautiful the dress or the headscarf, the sooner it is accepted. Most Muslim women ind themselves beautiful with a headscarf, but their non-Muslim environment oten inds it ugly or a shame that they don’t show their beauty.
Within feminism and the Islamic cultures it is rather controversial to use clothes or beautify yourself in order to gain acceptance. On the other hand, it may beneit someone to rethink the concept of one’s clothes.
Nine interviewees experienced situations in which non-Muslims found their headscarves beautiful. Especially when they used lighter colors, lower prints and accessories.
Unique dutch Muslim identity 15.
As more and more Dutch women accept Islam as their religion, and more and more ‘born’ Muslims who feel truly Dutch, it might be a good thing to invest in the development of a unique Dutch Muslim identity. Islam is a part of the Netherlands, and shouldn’t be seen any longer as something alien to he Netherlands (Tibi, 2007: 99-100).
In he Netherlands, Muslims form a minority that are generally of ‘foreign’ ethnic origins and migrated to he Netherlands for economic or political reasons. Because of certain integration issues and political debates about Muslims as a group, being a ‘Muslim’ became synonym for ‘immigrant’ and vice versa. Because the minority group is reduced to their religion in public debate, there is this tendency among born Muslims: they themselves start to link their Muslim identity to their ethnic background (Bassam Tibi: 93).Some of them feel more conident as Muslims when they base their identity on anything that is non-Western, and reject anything that is related to Western culture (Bechler, 2004: 3).A ‘Western’ scarf style would feel like a loss of Islamic identity for persons with that mentality.
Islamic criteria 16.
he concept of a Dutch Islam is not about changing the religion or its rules. Within Islam there is space for people to give shape to their religious practices in a personal way. he Islamic concept of adab includes etiquete (greeting, showing respect, etc.) and dress codes, based on the Qur’an and Sunnah (way of life of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him). 8 his can be combined with the adat: cultural conventions, social norms (clothing) and customs. Traditions and customs can either contribute to Islamic practice, oppose it or be neutral.
In Islam, clothes are meant to cover the body and protect the body and honor. he Islamic dress code for the hijab (headscarf) is bound to certain criteria: according to most Sunni schools of thought a woman should cover her entire body except her hands and face, the clothes should not be transparent or that tight that it follows the lines of her body, she should cover for men who are not immediate family. In addition, it is not allowed to wear clothes to show of (out of arrogance) or to seduce people. But within these criteria, details are not mentioned: it is allowed to use diferent fabrics, colors, models, layers, accessories etc. his depends on the context, cultures, religious interpretations and personal preferences.
Nearly all women think an Arabic style is not mandatory, as long as the criteria are met. It is important for the women that the headscarf covers suiciently, is recognizable Islamic, but not Eastern perse. “You have to be very creative.» Whether the Dutch Muslim women are open to creativity is examined in the following paragraphs.
fashion 17.
Creative designers like Rabia Z (Dubai), the designers of Noor D*Izar (Belgium), and Zleqha (Malaysia) have tried to give the headscarf a new twist. heir motives to design new headscarves are based on the assumption that like any other garment the headscarf is a symbol, and symbols afect people’s behavior and their reactions. Symbols reinforce common values, and the feeling of belonging to a community (Santagata, 2002: 18).
atitude 18.
Among certain groups of Muslims fashion and beauty are considered a taboo, or is considered to be incompatible with religion. I asked my respondents what they think of fashion: nearly all women (twenty, seven with headscarf) have a positive opinion. hirteen women think fashion is compatible with being Muslim, and the other ten women say it depends on the intentions someone has.
Not only Muslim women’s outlook on fashion, but also their behavior in terms of dress is important to analyze. his will show whether Muslim women are open to change their styles and try new ways of covering. I asked whether they are sensitive to the taste of their non-Muslim environments and adjust their clothes to it: almost all women conirmed.
However, these women are more familiar with Dutch fashion rather than to draw inspiration from the Islamic Fashion catwalks in Dubai, Musqat and Malaysia. But there are also many women who never heard of Islamic catwalks. Islamic fashion is not really commonly known among the Dutch Muslim women, but they are certainly interested to see more of it.
he major obstacle in choosing for the headscarf is the reactions that non-Muslims will give. A new style headscarf counters certain stereotypes and evokes positive reactions (and thus is expected to provide less discrimination), so it may be easier to choose the headscarf.
If necessary, the new style can be worn temporarily or only in certain environments such as the workplace, so that the transition from a non-veiled to a veiled woman is less confrontational. It gives a convert’s family some time to get used to it, ater which she might decide to switch to a more Arabic style of wearing the scarf. A beautiful, unique headscarf has the potential to win hearts, evoke positive feedback, facilitate ambitions and courage (Santagata, 2002: 16),instead of fears and discrimination. Dutch Muslim women can easily achieve their goals this way, because their headscarf is one step ahead of discrimination. his gives them more agency and control: the power headscarf.
conclusion c.
he efects of discrimination of veiled women are noticeable in everyday situations, which complicates the choice to wear a headscarf. Discrimination is based on negative stereotypes about Islam and gender, and the headscarf is the ultimate symbol for everything that is ‘allochtoon’ (foreign): oppressed and backward. Because Muslim women haven’t fully developed their own Dutch Muslim identity, they oten automatically choose to wear an eastern-looking headscarf, instead of a creating a Dutch one. Since the Islamic doctrine gives space to a range of cultural expressions like fashion styles, Muslim women could expand their agency and inluence situations positively by using a new headscarf style, leading to more opportunities and empowerment.
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