Headscarves and dresses

Submitted by Meghan (United States), Feb 20, 2008 at 20:39

I wear khimar (the headscarf) and jilbab (dress) often. Wearing a headscarf is no more offensive than a nun wearing a headscarf, or an orthodox Jew wearing a headscarf. Why is there so much upset over Muslim women covering their hair? If I went out wearing a bandanna and showing off my legs, no one would say anything.

I heard recently about jilbab being banned from a school because it obscures the arms and legs. Do we have to show off our arms and legs to be accepted in society? We require people to expose themselves, thereby putting them in the way of a huge amount of sexism and harrassment, and then wonder why Western women convert to Islam and choose to cover. If that is what being "liberated" is, I don't want it. I wear jilbab often; it's just a dress with long sleeves. My mother was a Christian and wore similar dresses her whole life and no one ever talked of banning her clothes, simply because she didn't look like a Muslim.

I can understand security issues with niqab and burqa, but aside from that, in my opinion, those who seek to prevent women from wearing what they choose are just as oppressive as those who seek to force them.

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