For fun, how about collecting those instances when female political leaders, especially leftist ones, don the hijab (Islamic headscarf)?
Oriana Fallaci, interviewing Ayatollah Khomeini in September 1979 in Qum, Iran. The interview lasted six hours and at one point, an indignant Fallaci removed her chador and threw it at Khomeini.
Oriana Fallaci interviewing Ayatollah Khomeini, before she threw her chador at him.
Princess Diana during a 1996 visit to a cancer hospital in Pakistan. .
Princess Diana in hijab in a Pakistan hospital.
Hilary Clinton, when she was still wife of the U.S. president in 1997, traveled to Eritrea and put on a headscarf. Interestingly, her daughter Chelsea, seen in the background, did not.
Hillary Rodham Clinton traveling in Eritrea in 1997 with a headscarf on.
But on another occasion, Chelsea joined her in wearing a headscarf.
Mother and daughter, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, wearing headscarves.
Interesting that Hilary and Clelsea should be wearing headcovers while with Yasir Arafat.
The two Clinton women cover there heads - out of respect for Yasir Arafat?
Mona Sahlin, elected just two days ago the leader of Sweden's Social Democratic Party, famously donned a head piece when visiting a mosque on September 14, 2001.
Swedish Social Democratic Party leader Mona Sahlin (right) in headscarf, speaking with Mahmoud Aldebe, chairman of the Swedish Muslim Association, on visiting a mosque in Stockholm.
Prince Charles' wife, Camilla Parker Bowles, got into complete Egyptian Muslim garb, including hijab, on a visit to Al-Azhar.
Camilla Parker Bowles with Prince Charles in Egypt.
Antje Vollmer, Green Party member and vice-president of the German Bundestag, visiting Riyadh as part of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's delegation in March 2005.
Antje Vollmer, Green Party member and vice-president of the German Bundestag, in Hijab.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visiting a mosque in Dushanbe, Tajikistan in October 2005, wearing a black cover on her hair.
Diane Sawyer of ABC's "Good Morning America" television program interviewed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wearing a hijab in February 2007.
Diane Sawyer while interviewing Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, donned a headscarf when she visited Damascus in April 2007.
Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, in Damascus.
Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen, a former Danish minister of culture (and someone with whom I have argued), wore a hijab near the parliament in April 2007.
Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen, a former Danish minister of culture.
In June 2007, three senior Bush administration staffers wore makeshift hijabs as they listened to the president address an audience at Washington's Islamic Center.
Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Fran Townsend (far left), NSC Senior Director for European Affairs Judy Ansley (left), and Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes (right) listen to President Bush wearing makeshift hijabs.
On a trip to Saudi Arabia in October 2007, George W. Bush's wife Laura wore a particularly severe-looking hijab.
Laura Bush in Saudi Arabia.
Angelina Jolie the actress also serves as a "Goodwill Ambassador" for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; in the latter capacity, she visited a eathquake-struck village in Pakistan in August 2007.
Angelina Jolie, UNHCR goodwill ambassador, in a Pakistani village in August 2007.
Switzerland's Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey wore a full hijab in Tehran in March 2008 as she signed a natural gas deal with Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (March 19, 2008)
Switzerland's Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey meets with Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran.
Comment: And what does one make of the male practice of holding hands, as George W. Bush did with Saudi king Abdullah?
Mar. 23, 2008 update: A number of readers have responded to this blog by pointing out that the women pictured above are doing nothing different from non-Jewish men donning a kippah (yarmulke, skullcap) in a synagogue. To which, I have two replies:
In about half the pictures above, the women are not in a mosque or other religious place. In their cases, the comparison is irrelevant.
When they are in a mosque, I reject the comparison of a head covering and a skullcap. Wearing a skullcap is like taking one's shoes off on entering a mosque. But wearing a hijab, especially the full hijab such as Laura Bush wore, is like a non-Jewish male putting on the tallit (prayer shawl). It is not a small symbolic step of respect but rather taking on important aspects of the ritual of a religion not one's own.
A Jewish man praying with a tallit, or prayer shawl, over his head and upper torso.
Apr. 7, 2008 update: It's a bit off-topic, but the Stony Brook Muslim Student Association is sponsoring (along with the "wo/men's gender resource center") a "Scarves for Solidarity" day today. The announcement explains:
The purpose of Scarves for Solidarity is to help save battered women while spreading awareness about Islam. The Muslim Student Association is working with sponsors who plan to donate $5 to Battered Women's Shelter for every female who volunteers to wear a head-scarf/hijab on Monday, April 7th 2007.
Head-scarves will be available (FOR FREE) at the Union lobby between 12 pm and 3 pm throughout the week of Monday, March 31st. All that is required from you is to wear the scarf provided for you from 10am until 7:30 pm on April 7th. The scarves will all be the same color so that you can recognize other women volunteering to save battered women.
You are also invited to a discussion at 7:30 pm in SAC Ballroom B where you will have a chance to share your experience of wearing the hijab/scarf. (Refreshments will be served)
MSA then goes on to explain what the hijab is and how to wear it.
The "Scarves for Solidarity" poster.
Comment: Note this, non-Muslim women! You don't have to go to a majority-Muslim country or a mosque to wear a hijab. You can wear one in your normal life.
May 15, 2008 update: Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom wore a headscarf while visiting the Green Mosque in Bursa, Turkey.
Queen Elizabeth in a Turkish mosque.
Jan. 15, 2009 update: The new Swiss ambassador to Tehran, Livia Leu Agosti, has stated she will observe Iran's Islamic dress code and wear a hijab during her mission.
Livia Leu Agosti, the new Swiss ambassador to Iran, soon to be seen under a hijab.
May 26, 2009 update: Norway's Queen Sonja wore a headscarf as she visited the mosque of the Islamic Cultural Centre Norway in Oslo.
Norway's Queen Sonja.
June 4, 2009 update: Hillary Clinton, now U.S. secretary of state, donned a hijab to tour the Sultan Hassan Mosque in Cairo along with Barack Obama. Her beatific look prompted CNN producers to post the picture and invite readers to submit captions for it, and 287 of them did so.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the Sultan Hassan Mosque in Cairo.
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