Jilbabs / hijabs and 'decency'
Now i'm back in melbourne i'm laughing at the way in which Muslims are often presented after living in Indo for so long where some of my close friends were strict Muslims / and or wore strict Muslim attire (read: loose clothes and jilbab though there were some who wore stacks of makeup and exposed necks which I always found amusing).
Women at uni here in Aus in my experience who wear the jilbab are often the butt of sneaky (and sometimes completely overt) stares that in Muslim countries like Indonesia are unseen for jilbab wearers. (mostly because when Indonesians stare they stop in their tracks, turn off engines and completely obvsiously STARE.)
(My friend Bec when we were posing with a jilbab)
Heheheh
So - jilbabs / hijabs = a coloured piece of material wrapped around the female Muslim's head, more or less expertly arranged, generally to protect the 'modesty' of the wearer.
Variations include the classy 'twist' ending at the nape of the neck, but *gasp* showing a bit of neck
the 'lazy jilbab' which is like a pre-fitted jilbab almost like a sock, but larger and often slightly more attractive, shoved on in a second.
the 'trend jilbab' which entailed a colourful pretty piece of material in the latest fashion - often batik or i swear once a tye-die type thing.
the 'tent' which is basically the slappest laziest way of wearing a jilbab, often seen by 'tweenagers' forced to obey their parents in wearing it.
and the 'full jilbab' which is a really loose style covering the shoulders, tight under the chin and completely covering the breasts.
So at the start I had some of the usual prethought about 'jilbab-ers' - conservative, very religious, etc which unfortunately in my mind also led to 'narrow minded' and 'backward' which unfortunately is the way I (used to, but still sometimes do) steoreotype a lot of (strong) religious people which I am still trying to combat.
And then I met Muslims who wear jilbabs, and everything changed as it does when, you know, go out and live something apart from getting (the wrong) ideas from the sidelines....
After I got used to the idea that my flat mates would dress completely conservatively out of the house, then come home and hang out with their friends in hot pants, singlet top and hair they straightened that morning (though no one saw under the hijab), i started listening to my friends' opinions or something that is so political and visible in the west but as normal as being Connex'd on public transport in melbourne.....
Some thoughts on jilbabs from my friends....
*great for bad hair days - you may have 5kg of bubblegum in your hair but no one but you will ever know!
*freedom from looks from guys and being sexually objectified as you walk past (this is huge and something i really struggled with in indo -way more of a problem in indonesia which way crazily overtly favours men in society in almost all points of culture)
*extra options for colour coordination
*being regarded for you as a person not your looks - being able to interact on a purely academic level with coworkers
*to appear more professional.
*to always be read as female if this is your gender identity, although you may not be female-bodied.
I know of a jilbabber who always wore the hijab even out to secret hotel visits with her boyfriend.
I know of jilbabers who were the only woman in their family to wear the scarf, and others the only one not to.
Another girl would cover up all the way, jilbab, long sleeves, long pants. The jilbab obviously made up for the fact that she wore tight leggings for pants that showed off every curve!
(above: the elegant twist tie jilbab style)
(below: some jilbabers without scarf)
In terms of being oppressed through having to cover up, my friend and I had the following thought:
*in our society, although we are free to wear what we want (in theory may i stress) we generally keep to convention and opportunity, for example female bodied individuals could wear a skimpy bikini to work / restaurants / shopping centres ("i'd like some milk, bread, dogfood, and my, isn't your bikini a lovely shade of aqua!") but we wouldn't because people would stare, we'd feel exposed and may cause trolley accidents as people oogled over croissants. We usually choose to cover up a little more.
In the same way, couldn't this be seen to be likened to jilbabers, just the same but with a higher standard of what is regards as 'decency'? In the same way that when you're young and your parents yell at you to 'not go out in that top' because they see its tendency to be translucent in bright light which you 'missed' earlier, isn't this the same as parents of jilbabers, but of course to a higer degree?
The bit that sucks of course is the genderisation of it, women have to cover up, but men don't.
But surely this could be parallelled to Western society's attitude to what's acceptable for women and men in public - eg/ men can walk around bare chested and women can't?
By the end I wanted a jilbab myself even just to arrive in Australia - just to play up against hurtful stereotypes in Western societies againsts Muslims.
Even, you know, "i just lived in Indonesia for 6 months and now i'm a muslim' at the first family gathering just for a reaction :P
and in practical terms, no sunburn! easy facemasks! no worries about straightening hair!
??>>>>Thoughts, ideas?
??>>>what little pretty (or not so) pictures does the word 'hijab' convey in your mind?