Covering-up Paternalism

By Eric Wessan - (Religious Freedom) - Every morning before they leave the home, millions of women around the world cover their hair or face out of respect for their religious beliefs and the social conventions that entails.  Many of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity and Islam have sects that require modesty, and one particularly visible aspect of this is head coverings.  

Despite the prevalence throughout a variety of religions, it seems to be significant that most of the Western countries that have sought to ban or limit the headscarf seem to be doing so in reaction to a growing muslim minority population.  The state of Pennsylvania is not seeking to limit the bonnets of the Mennonites, and the five-towns on Long Island are not looking to restrict the right of Jewish wives to cover their hair.  While the United States has not had major push for a head-scarf ban, the idea is in the mainstream in some parts of Europe.

In many cities and countries around the world, this show of modesty and piety is appreciated and throughout much of the muslim world, this sort of head covering is less noticeable than in the occasions where it is lacking. Without these coverings, women in some places are believed to be immodest, and in these societies there is often immense social, and rarely legal, pressure for women to conform with this dress code.

Currently, there are no European countries that allow for the headscarf to be made a mandatory part of a woman’s attire against her will, there has been evidence of groups in cities applying large amounts of social pressure in a way that makes those who seek gender equality uncomfortable. The very idea of a mandated dress code rankles many in contemporary Western society.

While religious freedom is often thought of as an unquestionable necessity, it becomes apparent very quickly how uneasy many are with any sort of religious uniform.  The headscarf has a strong religious affiliation and countries that pride themselves on acceptance and secularity have often begun to find themselves in a strange intellectual position.  At what point does this attempt to restrict undue external and societal influences on someone’s life begin to be an unacceptable imposition on their religious freedom? While drawing an exact line is difficult, I believe that a ban on headscarves is misguided and wrong.

One of the first arguments proffered by those who wish to ban the scarf is that it is a paternalistic relic. Believing the headscarf to be a style imposed by external pressures, these supposed activists on behalf of women’s rights do their best to ensure that they cannot be forced into wearing a headscarf by not allowing them to wear a headscarf. 

At first glance, this may seem like a reasonable trade off.  If in fact many women object to wearing this piece of clothing, then not allowing those who compel the women to wear the covering to exert that force would seem to be a simple solution.  Problem solved.  Any more than cursory glance at this issue, however, will reveal the problems with this line of thinking.  For instance, the entire premise of this sort of ban is that women do not want to wear a headscarf. 

This reductionist idea and mass-classification of an entire gender group should immediately set off alarm bells.  Upon actually investigating the issue, it turns out that many women, and more than a majority or supermajority in some countries, believe that women who do not wear some form of covering to be dressed immodestly.  By passing a ban on the headscarf, a ban supposedly meant to help women, a country is actually massively disenfranchising a large group of people.  Their freedom to celebrate the religion in which they find solace is limited, and in a way that could be perceived as humiliating.

Banning the headscarves in public places and universities is a particularly perfidious rule.  While even more attractive sounding than a blanket ban, the illusory choices that result pit religion against education or employment. If a woman is unwilling to compromise on her learning, such a ban would preclude her from attaining higher education, achieving equality of opportunity or applying for government work.  One of the positive effects of the overturning of the hijab ban in Turkey was an immediate uptick in applications by women to work in public institutions or the civil service.  While secularists cringed at the feared supposed imminent oppression, many women embraced being able to both gainfully employed and comfortable in their attire.

The allure of preserving freedoms and rights is omnipresent in Western societies.  With inequality and unequal treatment rife throughout history, sensitivity to such rules may be at an all time high.  However, this sensitivity should not work to unveil efforts to reduce religious freedom and toleration. A culture and fashion different from the norm in Europe may not be seen as fashionable, although that is a different problem in itself, but it should also not be seen as oppression.