Criticizing women’s attire: A sexist practice

AL Diyar newspaper published an article yesterday by Rana Jouni in which she criticizes women wearing the veil as a fashion and where she refers to veiled women who also wear makeup and fashionable accessories or who replace their traditional abayas with tight jeans. Jouni noted that this new trend of the contemporary Hijab is not in line with the common definition and understanding of the Hijab. The author quotes Islamic researcher Abed el Hadi Munther who noted that this kind of a veil is “a Western creation which aims at undermining and controlling societies”, adding that this was largely facilitated “by the influx of soap operas which have taken over Islamic societies rapidly”. The author of the article did not only criticize harshly women who wear modern versions of the Hijab but also raised questions as to who is responsible for what she calls “a dangerous deviation”. We have chosen to highlight this article for two reasons which are not related to the common debate around the veil. First, we perceive the author’s opinion as an infringement of personal freedoms and liberties.  Secondly, we consider that the continuous focus on women’s clothing and attire is a sexist and patriarchal behavior whereas men’s attires are never put into question. (Al Diyar, 22 April 2015)