The timing this month seemed perfect. I turned on CNN and saw a report about the French government having officially enacted a law to ban hiding the face in public. This report grabbed my attention because I had just spent my first of five days touring throughout Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, where many women wear abayas (long black overgarments) and hijabs (face veils). Many, but not all who wore abayas, paired it with the hajib, even at the hotel pool and beach area while their children splashed, swam and played in the desert heat.
The women I saw covered in black shopped, conversed, texted, dined, mothered with ease in this modern emirate. I found myself paying particular attention to how they ate while their faces were covered. Though it seemed inconvenient to my American sensibilities, the women showed no stress or discomfort - why would they? It did strike me when I saw a man and woman dining together on a river cruise, he in western dress and she in an abaya and hijab. She lifted the hijab slightly to put the forkful of food in her mouth and I just felt uneasy for her. However the unease was my problem - not hers. I did notice that often it seemed women dressed in this fashion traveled together. I don't recall seeing an unveiled woman walking with one who was veiled. Unfortunately I did not get to converse with any Arabic women wearing the traditional garb.
I did, however, pepper two separate and quite affable male tour guides with questions about why women opt for this way of dressing. Modesty and tradition were the oft repeated answers. Women are free to choose dressing this way. Often I saw very high heels peeking out of the base of some garments and found myself wondering what style clothing was underneath. I also noted some extravagantly made-up eyes exposed. One woman appeared to have tiny crystals decorating the trim of her outerwear. (I, along with other women with whom I was travelling, speculated on how close this was to the finale of the "Sex and The City 2" when designer clothes, shoes and jewelry were exposed from underneath the black garments of Abu Dhabi women). Mostly, however, the garments were plain or had very modest trim, if any.
So why the fuss in France? Elaine Sciolino of the New York Times notes several explanations in her article, "The French, the Veil and the Look." Some are cultural but I believe she comes closer to the real reason when she writes one explanation as, "the deep-rooted French fear, resentment and rejection of the “other” — the immigrant, the invader, the potential terrorist or abuser of human rights who eats, drinks, prays and dresses differently, and refuses to assimilate in the French way." She also clarifies that the face veil is not a burqa, the garment which immediately brings to mind the cruel, oppression of the Taliban in other parts of the world. "The face-covering veils in France are different. Even though many here mistakenly call it a burqa, the garment worn by women here is a niqab, an improvised cover in black with no religious or traditional significance beyond what a wearer or observer gives it. " http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/weekinreview/17BURQA.html
My limited exposure to this style of dress did not raise concerns for me until I heard the CNN report regarding France's restrictive law. Does this law ironically objectify women by singling them out for covering their faces? Estimates in France hover around 2,000 in the number of women who choose to wear face veils. This is in a country of approximately 62 million people. How is it that a woman in Dubai can dress with a face-veil and be honored and yet, in France she is breaking the law? The law says it is illegal to hide the face in the public space, but makes exceptions to allow for motorcycle helmets, traditional ceremonies such as weddings or Carnival costumes. The law never mentions "women," "Muslim" or "veil."Dubai touts itself as a modern emirate but it made me think about my western notions and what is it that makes a nation modern? A large segment of the female population dresses in abayas. Some local women choose to wear a head scarf with western style clothing. Many men wear the traditional dishasha, a white ankle length robe. Tourism, not oil, is the economic engine that drives this current day Dubai. As a female visitor, I was not restricted in my dress, however, the hotel asked guests to use discretion and honor local custom when walking through the lobby and common areas meaning they did not want bathing suit clad guests strolling around the hotel.
A few days ago I was channel surfing and stumbled upon the 1991 movie "Not Without My Daughter" starring Sally Field. Based on the experience in the eighties of American Betty Mahmoody, the film dramatically depicts an impossibly oppressive marriage in Iran and a wife's battle to leave with her daughter. Criticized for making troubling racial and moral assertions in its depiction of Iranians, the film shows women wearing all black long dresses and head covers. It melded the disturbing marriage with these images and was one of many influences on our ideas about life in that country. Through film, news accounts, documentaries, and novels, dynamic and varied depictions are available as to why many Muslim women cover up. I realized my ideas were being influenced by the broad spectrum of possibilities and it was mostly negative. This trip began to tip the scales for me.
During an outdoor dinner at a Lebanese restaurant in downtown Dubai on my last evening there, four women in abayas and hijabs sat at the next table enjoying each other's company. While they conversed in Arabic, their actions spoke louder in that it appeared to me these were four friends enjoying a social evening together complete with a table side shisha (a glass based water pipe used for smoking). I was witnessing the familiar 'girls night out' Dubai style. I loved the universality of this scene and smiled as I heard the familiar sound of sisterhood. Travel always brings understanding, whether or not we agree with what we see. I quickly understood that no matter how it looks on the outside, it is vital that we seek the story underneath and settle for nothing less.
