I had never had a conversation with a woman in a veil before I moved to Egypt. For those of you who do not know, the veil is the scarf worn on the head and around the neck. The option to cover the face also exists but here in Egypt I have seen far fewer women with the niqab, the face covering, as they observe hijab the Islamic doctrine of modest costume. My ignorance of the wearing of a veil and all that it can mean gives me an advantage as I experience Egypt. I cannot say I was opinion-free but I can say that I observe with curiosity and a desire for understanding as opposed to finding evidence for a position. In the last 6 months I have taken note of the veil in its various forms. I have certainly had conversations with veiled women. And, I have to say each day my curiosity grows and the only understanding that is confirmed for me time and again is that people are complicated.
So, what were/are my preconceived notions of the veil? Well, first off I had no idea that covering the face was an option. I never gave it a second thought. I think that I must have thought that a woman chose to put the face cover on or not depending on the situation and that explained why I would see women wearing the veil both ways on television or in magazines. I also thought that most women didn’t thoughtfully choose or refuse the veil and that accounted for what I thought of as a lot of women wearing one. I thought that a woman in a veiled family just automatically became veiled at a certain age and that there would be severe familial and social repercussions if she chose not to. However, one of my veiled friends is a twin and her sister is not veiled. She may become so in the future but for now they are very different people and this is reflected in their choices to veil. When I saw veiled women in positions of power on the television I always wondered if they wore the veil in publicized events but not others or if they wore the veil as a political move more than as a religious observvance, to show their solidarity with the more common folk. And yes, I did think the veil was worn mostly by lesser educated women, women who had fewer rights and freedoms than I did. I thought the veil was uncomfortable looking, hot, and left a lot to be desired as far as fashion goes. I associated the veil with the Middle East and Islam and certainly as a possession of the “other” not my culture, religion, geographic region etc. In other words the veil was part of an exotic, foreign religion, a curiosity but clearly, in my mind, something that other cultures had rules about. Upon arriving in Egypt I thought all I had to do was study a bit, take a moment to understand them, and it would all be made clear.
The more I learn about the wearing of the veil the more mysterious it becomes. Here are some observations:
There are many styles of veil that cover the head. Whatever the style the veil is always worn if there is a chance that a man not in the woman's family will see her. Basically, anyone who "could" marry the woman. This confuses me since the woman could be married (so, technically unavailable) and the man could be married (again, unavailable) but this rule still "counts". Some veils are colorful silk scarves like the ones we in the West would wear around the collar of a business suit. They coordinate with each outfit so one woman must have many veils. These can fit snugly around the head and are tied in a nice bow shape under the chin. Very little fabric hangs down in front or back. They are secured with just the deft knots or with a couple pins. Other scarves are made of much more fabric and while the look around the head is the same the fabric bunches up under the neck much like a cowl-necked sweater and in the back the fabric hangs freely in a point. Some of these that hang down have quite a lot of fabric and they hang over the shoulders and down to the middle of the woman’s back. Some people wear their veil in such a way that the fabric around the head is not smooth to the skull. It has some volume as thought the hair underneath is full. This gives the woman’s face the look of being framed by fabric.These remind me of a Queen Amidalla look. Some women wear a veil over hair that must be piled high underneath in something like a beehive hairdo or upsweep. These veils look positively structural! I saw one girl put her sunglasses to rest up there one time (like I do when I push them on to the top of my head) but since there was so much veil there it looked as though another cloth face with sunglasses was on top of her head. I guess I have been here long enough that I feel comfortable to judge these styles. In my mind I gave this placement of sunglasses the black Glamour “Don’t Do” rectangle.
In the grocery stores the cashiers wear the same veil color, usually white, with their uniform. In our school the matrons who take care of the children for us wear navy blue veils as part of their uniform. Our cleaning ladies on the other hand, are unveiled. At a soccer game I saw that women wore veils in red, white, and black, the colors of the Egyptian flag. I heard that when they attend the hotly contested rival national games they are not allowed to wear veils of either team’s color! Most of the veils are one color only when worn by workers. Most of the veils of the educated women seem to be multi-colored with decorations. Sometimes the bigger veils have a separate piece of fabric peaking out near the forehead for a layered look. Some schools have almost all the children in veils. I see children going to the school across the street from my villa in solid orange veils. A truly unusual color I think. The veils that cover the face seem to be all black for the most part but just last night I saw a pretty purple one. Veils worn by the Bedoiun in the Sinai are almost always a color and have shiny metal decorations. They cover their face by lifting the veil with their hand and tucking it in but I have also seen the Bedoiun wearing veils with holes cut for the eyes. I bought one of these to bring back home as a wall decoration.
Along with wearing the veil the hijab tells women to cover their arms to their wrists and their legs to their ankles (and some women wear gloves too) These rules are varied as much as the veils themselves. For me the biggest problem with this is that it is hot here in the desert!! Yes, covering your head and body with fabric does keep the sun off. I have taken to draping my head in fabric when in the direct sun more than once here. But some of the fashion solutions do not make sense. Some women wear long outfits at the beach that are made for going in the water. It can’t be comfortable although one woman told me she prefers it since it makes the water feel warmer. Some women wear what we call sundresses but with a long-sleeved leotard top underneath technically covering the skin but leaving little for the imagination regarding the shape of the woman’s body. I saw one woman dressed in such a sleeveless dress and her long sleeves were the perfect match for skin color. I did a major double take! At first I thought I was seeing a veiled woman in a spaghetti strap dress. Once the Western gym teacher in our school wore a sleeveless tennis top and I observed my fourth grade girls whispering to each other about this in amazement. So, the doctrine that dictates the wearing of the veil dictates much more about women’s bodies in public but I will stick with just the veil, it’s confusing enough.
As I write this, April 16, 2010, the news on the radio announces that Belgium may be the first European country to ban the burqa which covers the entire body of a woman. No reason why is given in the headline. I have not seen anyone here wearing a burqa. I think that most here look at the wearing of a burqa as restrictive and too conservative so – there is a hierarchy of acceptance of sorts.
One Western woman who is married to a Muslim man and has lived here for 28 years took me on a tour of the Khan with a posh group of the Egyptian upper class. In our whole group of about 60 people not one woman was veiled. I have to honestly say that I have not been in such a segregated group in Egypt before. Since I noticed it I mentioned it to my friend. She said matter of factly that we would never see a veil in this class of Egyptians. However, I have been told that the “class” of Egyptians I work for and who send their children to our school are the wealthiest of the wealthiest in Egypt. I think the moms are at least 50% veiled women. We have only one mom who wears the niqab as far as I can tell. And many teachers wear various veils. They are all highly educated and modern women. I am completely confused by my friends response . . . Later that night we are talking about a local Chinese restaurant and she says to me that her family does not go there since there are so many veiled women there. Nothing to do with the food or service or any particular interaction she had. She also dismisses an entire section of Cairo as entirely too conservative and “full” of veiled women. This woman has two daughters living in Egypt and two granddaughters. Clearly, “choosing” the veil is not an option for them and this woman does not equate the wearing of the veil with religious practice and more so with a socio-economic class. However, another veiled friend of mine is from the upper class and very highly educated as well as politically active. So, . . . there is ALWAYS an exception to every "rule" here in Egypt especially in regards to the veil.
Even though the veil seems, at first thought, so foreign to anything I know I realize that it there are veils in Western society. During a Christmas movie I see a child put on a veil in order to play Mary. I see nuns now as veiled women carrying on an ancient tradition. My hometown newspaper has photos of brides and little girls lined up to make their First Communion and they all are wearing types of veils. Wiki-pedia shows pictures of cloth coverings for paintings, statues, and even the Eucharist on an alter and reminds me that these are all veils too. Wearing a veil came, originally, from a place of honoring the female form and placing a veil to provide protection. Now . . . I am not sure what it offers. To my mind it is a confused symbol – it creates a statement but of what is not clear. It is muddy. It has the potential to honor a female but I honestly feel it oppresses females to varying degrees. To some the oppression is minimal since they are already in positions of authority and have truly made a free and thoughtful choice (or at least they feel their choice was their own). For them the veil may only offer a slight nuisance - you cannot go out in the rain (usually not a problem here in the dessert) since your veil will get wet among other logistical problems. If the veil truly created a sense of honoring women then I think the country, as a whole, would be more practiced in treating females kindly. Overall, my experience has been that females are completely objectified and treated poorly and therefore the presence of the veil has not created an enlightened society towards women. As I said, the veil, creates more questions in my mind than answers.
