There is no standardized come up to expressions for
Islamic dress. HIJABS is an
Arabic word, in the beginning referring to a
curtain or
partition, which later came to refer to
Islamic dress in general, but is now frequently metonymically condensed to the
headscarf.
Islamic dress has been emerging as permanent sites of the controversy in the connection between Muslim communities and the State. Specifically, the wearisome of
Islamic headscarves by
women in public places has raised questions about secularism,
women’s rights and national identity. It has always been seen by the
Western feminist as oppressive and as a symbol of a
Muslim woman’s subservience to women. As a result, it often comes as a surprise to
Western feminists that the
veil has become gradually more common in the
Muslim world and is often worn proudly by
college girls as a symbol of an
Islamic individuality; release them emblematically from neo-colonial Western cultural imperialism and domination.
For well over two decades,
Muslim women have been located in the
Australian popular
media in opposition to the values of
liberal democracy and the feminist agenda.
Muslim women, as if the act of “
unveiling” will somehow bestow the “
equality” and “
freedoms” that
Western women enjoy. While
‘HIJABdebates‘ occur in various guises in
France, the
Netherlands,
Germany, the
UK and somewhere else, questions of gender, race and religion have a particular
pertinence in
Australia, where a combination of recent events has generated unprecedented public and scholarly attention on sexual violence,
‘Masculinity protection’, and ideas of the
nation. It was against this historical backdrop that the Australian popular media developed an interest in
the HIJAB-the traditional veil worn by some Muslim women.
Hijabs
