Veiled Wonder. The Face-Veil in the West.
August 15, 2006
Honestly, I’ve ended up deleting the text of this post. Not only was it tone-deaf, but the Google hits it was attracting have lead me to believe that it is perpetuating some seriously messed-up stereotypes. I am however, leaving up links to the Flickr pictures I’ve admired:
Here are some photographic masterpieces featuring different variations on the face-veil, pictures such as the ones shown here, here, here, here, a pretty, commercial shot of bedouin garb, a psychedelic manipulated picture, and a self-portrait by one of my favourite Flickr photographers.
The niqab in the picture above, meanwhile, was provided by Lillie. Thank you, Lillie!
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I saw a program about phobias which examined the reasons why so many people are afraid of clowns and a guy speculated that it was because the makeup disguises the person’s real emotion. He said even children can pick up intentions from eyes and mouths, etc. I assume some of the “mystique” about face-veiling comes from that “unknown” inside. People’s imaginations can run wild, thinking of an exotic sexual being or a horrifying terrorist and anything in between.
I don’t think niqab “works” appropriately in Western or Eastern societies, they’re both quite sensitive about sexuality, a little *too* liberal or a little *too* repressive. Most humans have “it” on their brains no matter how much or how little you wear.
[...] Anyway, long story short (too late?) I wrote something about it here. [...]
Thanks for the link…I was wondering why I was getting traffic from this site. Actually, the reason behind the “You can’t see us, we can see you” was for a special visitor to the site who was harassing us at the time. It had nothing to do with us getting a thrill out of man-watching, which is something I am fortunately not pathetic enough to indulge in. Its a pity things can so easily be taken out of context. The professional thing to do would be to research the reasoning, rather than jumping to “obvious” conclusions.
Peace and blessings. Have a fabulous 2007.
Well, I get a total thrill out of man-watching, so I guess I tend to assume the same about other women.
Sorry if I offended you.
Peace.
hello very interesting article; my wife feels the same and would never veil in scotland or the west on a recent trip to saudi arabia we visited dammam and she veiled there purely as every other woman was veiled and she said she felt more comfortable being veiled in that situation
First of all, I can say that as a Muslim man raised in the West, I partially share your sentiment. Even though I am Muslim, I still feel uncomfortable around a niqabi woman, simply because I was raised in a culture where, as you have illustrated, facial expression is important. Even the way someone moves his/her mouth when talking speaks volumes about their disposition. No traditional Islamic schools of thought require the niqab, but none of them forbid it.
Having said that, I think it’s important for non-Muslims and people in the West to realize that hijab (Islamic covering) was never intended to be a social construct, despite what many Muslim writers tell you. The proof of this is that a woman alone in her house, with no men around her, still must put on full hijab when she prays.
Clearly, God is not a man, and that is not my opinion, but rather a well-documented fact of Islamic theology. And God is All-Seeing, so the nudity of a woman would not be hidden from that all-pervasive vision.
Therefore, hijab (and niqab if a woman chooses) is to be a spiritual expression of identity. It should have nothing to do with what men think of a woman. It is a personal feeling of spirituality that should be internalized, not externalized. Those Muslims and non-Muslims who turn into into a social statement cheapen the sanctity of it. She can be as beautiful and sexy as she wants to be, but ultimately, her standing with God will be based on the purity of her heart, not the length of her veil.
That was very thoughtful and beautiful…. Thank you.
i dont understand one thing the people have so useless time to always pick on muslims, first its niqab whats next why do muslims grow beards i just want west to think little out of the box, not every muslim is bad and not every non-muslim is good. good and bad people are in every race and everywhere. first you say its free world one can do anything and on the second hand u say oh u cnnt do that u cnnt do this, first decided wht u think is right or wrong, just creat love and peace in the world if one want to wear jeans let them wear it if one wants to wear niqab let them wear it dont try to put ur statements on them they are free persons and good people. so chill and take it easy world doesnot end if someone wear niqab its there rights and it should be respected simple as that peace
Well, Ahmed – I don’t really disagree with any of that. Peace.
And I’ve got a reason or two to like the beard (though not all Muslims have a beard, as you and I know).
[...] pontificated on the niqab (face-veil), and especially how it relates to Western culture, before. *cough* Admittedly, a lot of our comments, my comments included, can be rather presumptuous and [...]