Veil= Limited Ability

As a Western Muslim who has lived as a covered Muslim women in the US I was surrounded by the idea that more clothing = limited ability. I never quite understood the thinking that if a woman is covered more she than becomes more incapable of doing one thing or another. I don't see how my act of wearing loose pants, longer shirts, and a scarf suddenly rendered me incapable of doing various jobs that I could do with the same clothing minus a scarf. It is the extra yard of fabric that suddenly meant I was unable to answer phones, unable care for children, unable to do many things that otherwise no one would think twice about.

And this is just concerning the head covering, never mind those who choose to wear jilbabs or abyas complete with a veil. Than all of a sudden such women are totally incompetent to do much of anything. She certainly couldn't work in any field, be it a cashier or a lawyer. She couldn't interact with children as scout troop leader like the other moms in the neighborhood. Suddenly she wouldn't even be able to understand English unless it was spoken very loudly and slowly.

I chalked most of this up to the 'western' perception of Muslim women in general and down right 'ignorance' when it comes to Muslim women. It was an excuse I was ready to extend to a culture that was either in fear of women covering or fearing for them. I could understand how they viewed covering as a 'strange' concept which would, at first at least, be greeted with skepticism and oddity. This was a culture, after all, that sported short skirts in the board room and gave such visions of 'empowerment' within the media.

But than I move to a culture which for many years has adopted the veil as not only a normal cultural dress but also a religious one and met with the same attitudes towards the veil. As I read an article in Arab News yesterday by Iman Kurdi it typified an attitude in Saudi with regards to the veil. The idea that a woman is limited in ability if she wears a veil.

The veil is not something that I personally choose to wear. I personally don't agree it is a religious mandate or something incumbent upon all Muslim women to wear. I have reached this view based on my own studies and understanding and my point here is not to debate the issue. In fact I simply don't debate this issue at all, for I feel it only becomes a division amongst Muslim women that they don't need. That said, I fully support any Muslim woman who chooses to wear it, no matter what her reasoning may be for such a choice.

I strongly oppose the view that suggests that a woman who veils suddenly becomes incapable of doing a job, or functioning in day to day activities. Nor more than any other average woman would be. This however is a very typical view within Saudi Arabia, a woman CAN NOT because she veils. These can nots limit a woman's ability in many areas, such as

Driving- many opponents to women driving would suggest the veil limits her ability to drive. And in order to drive she would have to remove it. So in order to 'protect her' she shouldn't be allowed to drive.

Working- many opponents to women working in a mixed gender work place suggest that the veil hinders a woman's ability to perform various jobs. Be it a secretary or a doctor the cloth that covers her face, but not her eyes, renders her incapable of doing that job. So in order to 'protect women' from having to remove their veil she shouldn't work.

Even Iman within her article gives examples of a veiling woman's limited ability, she states "It also physically impedes a woman from fully interacting with others, chopping vegetables, operating machinery or doing any number of every day- day tasks which require the full use of the five senses"

After reading this I was left asking if such statements were actually accurate. I've pulled up certain experiences in my own life here in Saudi with various veiling women and have gone over, in my mind, if this was actually true. So below is from my own experiences.

Is a veiled women physically impeded from 'fully interacting' with others?

First I must say that 'fully interacting' is a bit subjective. Some may assume that fully interacting requires a woman to shake the hands of a man for example. Or fully interacting my be that a woman embraces a man, kiss on a cheek, ect as many cultures do. So I will just state that 'fully interacting' to me suggests an everyday interaction between people with no physical touching involved. For I don't feel that one needs to be physical in order to fully interact, although this might be different in the mind of the author.

I interact with veiled women all the time as I'm out and about. I can recall recently speaking withavailedd women in BHS department store over what was the best pair of underwear. They have so many different cuts I could understand the confusion she was going through. As she stood looked, pondered, picked things up, huffed a bit I knew shewas frustratedd even though she was veiled. She didn't need to speak to me for me to pick up on the very fact that she was having a difficult time making an underwear decision and didn't want to talk to a man about it.

She turned to me, spoke in Arabic, I responded in my best Arabic sentence "I don't speak Arabic". She smiled, yes smiled, even with her veil I picked that up. Said sorry and than spoke to me in the best English she could respond with, which wasn't so bad. We interacted, fully as one frustrated underwear shopper to another. Total strangers, one veiled and one not, and we fully understood one another, even with broken Arabic and English inserted in our sentences.

I've had many conversations, although not all about under garments, with veiled women since moving to Saudi. I've been able to understand not only the spoken words but the 'body language' that we pass off in a normal communication. I can tell when a veiled women is smiling, displeased, angry,frustrated, amused, or any other numerous emotions that we extend to one another in communication. After going through this in my mind with my own experiences with veiled women I must say I give no credit to the authors assertion of it being any different.

Chopping vegetables- I must say that I have never had a veiled woman chop vegetables in front of me. However I do recall watching documentaries on various abilities of blind people and they can chop vegetables. They can cook and I'll assume some of the blind people in the world can actually cook better than me. So I don't think chopping vegetables would be an impossible un-doable task for a veiling woman. (maybe I should dig out my veil, yes I have one, and put thissuggestionn to the test andchope some veggies than upload the video here)

I can only recall a more delicate procedure than chopping vegetables, inserting a needle to draw blood. When I brought Hannah to the hospital to get blood drawn when she was a small girl (tonsils needed to come out) it was a veiled woman who inserted a needle into her arm and withdrew blood in a matter of seconds. After a complete hour and six attempts by two non veiled nurses. I do suggest that this is a bit more delicate that chopping vegetables and if a veil doesn't prevent a woman from doing this than a few vegetables wouldn't be an issue. But again this would be simple enough to put to a test.

Operating Machinery- A car is a machine and I've seen veiled women in Bahrain, UAE and the US veil and drive. I've seen a veiled woman use a computer, photocopier, and even a sewing machine. It is possible that there are machines that aveiledd woman couldn'toperatee if her vision was hindered in anyway. This could hold true for a person that wears glasses so I'm not sure if this makes such an impact on a veiled woman's ability to actually get through day to day activities.

What most grabbed my attention out of the portion I quoted above is that the author believes that a veiling woman loose one of her five senses. I'll assume that is 'sight' which the author believes is lost because a woman veils. But this is actually not an accurate statement, women do not loose their sight because they veil. They can see as good as a person who may go out in the cold winters of Chicago with a ski mask on. A person in ski mask doesn't suddenly become blind, they can still operate machinery, still interact with others and still function in the day to day life of coldness.

The idea that a woman who veils is equal to that of a blind person is totally false. And even if one holds it as true the assumption that such a person can not do many day to day activities should spend some time with a blind person and find out what they aretrulyy capable of. I'll guarantee that fully interacting with another human being is one of them.

In the case of Aishah Azmi, a veiled teacher in the UK, the author states "she is unable to perform her job to the standard that parents have a right to expect for their children" and compares her situation to "like wine tasting, are out of bounds for men and women..Beingg a lifeguard, are out of bounds for veiled women". For the author being veiled hinders awoman'ss ability to actually teach a child. The author further explains this position "Teaching is based on complex interaction between student and teacher. This interaction requires the student to make eye contact, to see the lips move as they speak, to register facial expressions and to build a relationship of sorts — all of which is severely impeded if the teacher’s face is covered, even if there are peep holes for the eyes. "

I'm a mother and a very active one when it comes to the education of my children. And I would not agree with the assessmentent. I'll try to be as clear on each issue she brought up.

1. eye contact- the veil does not hinder a woman from making eye contact with her students. Her eyes are in fact visible, probably more so than one that has tinted glasses, or very thick glasses.

2. seeing the lips move- in a classroom setting one can't assume that a child will always be in a position to see a teachers lips move. And what of a teacher that has a facial deformity where her lips do not move as mine would. Such is the case in children's school right now, she is fully capable of teaching although her mouth, due to an accident, doesn't move as freely as everyonelse. Children also aren't always in face to face view of the teacher, the teacher isn't static after all. She will move, from one child to another, from one area of the classroom to another, from forward facing to having her back towards the entire class. What must be had is an ability to be heard over other voices at times, and to be clear in ones pronunciation.

3. reading facial expressions- I find this to betrulyely minor issue when it comes to educating children. I recall several teachers I had over the years who looked more like a stiff board than an active human being, yet I learned from them. Add in that many facial expressions can be 'seen' through a veil without seeing them physically.

4. building a relationship- A teacher student relationship is not hindered because one wears a veil. Unless the child is bothered by the veil in general. And even if this was the case should a child be encouraged to continue to rebuke anything that foreign with them and not learn how to deal with situations they are not used to? Is this really what we want to teach the children of the world?

As a parent I find such an idea horrifying, that any child should be taught not to deal with various situations they aren't used to. I remember a teacher when I was in third grade, he was a little person, or whatever the correct term may be these days. He was teased, talked about, and feared by many children in the school when the students first arrived. But they learned to get used to someone who didn't look like them, he wasn't booted from the school. I dare suggest that children learn so much more in those experiences than any regular teacher could give them.

I don't find much to agree on with the position put forth by the author. My question would be was the woman a good assistant? Did she do her job effectively in that children could learn from her? Or was the objection only about her veiling rather than her ability to perform the job? This is what much of the complaints come down to, in most cases not just this one. People tend to take issue souly with the piece of cloth covering ones face rather than dealing with any real issues. The veil makes others 'uncomfortable' this is obvious, but does it truely impact the ability of a veiled woman to do a job? And for the record I would hold no objection to a veiled teacher instructing my children, as long as she was a good teacher.

I found other statements in the article telling, such as "peep holes for the eyes", "I do feel increasingly alarmed by the trend toward full veiling." and "For me, a woman who covers her face as well as her body is choosing to separate herself from the people around her. She is withholding her identity, hiding her emotional reactions and her personality. She is choosing to remain a stranger. It is no surprise that she generates mistrust" It is also fair to add that the author stated that covering the head isn't one she feels is a religious requirement either.

I'm personally amazed that this type of attitude can be held within this country. I've usually heard these same comments by Western expats who hold the same views they did while living in the US. Usually these same people never even attempt to get to know any woman that does veil. Because it is themselves, not the woman veiling, that have a fear of the veil. They don't take initiativeive to find out exactly what a veiled woman can do, nor who she is.

But this attitude is one that continually keeps covering women down one way or another. There is the voice that suggests that "some" covering is fine, as long as others who try not to understand don't feel uncomfortable. It is their discomfort that veiled women are to give into and change instead of the person learning and adapting to a situation they aren't used to.

There is the voices that suggest that veiled women can't so they shouldn't. The fear that many "Islamists" (and I'll use that term to generate the ugly who want to repress women) have and state that Muslim women shouldn't be allowed what they are perfectly capable of doing because they will have to uncover. The same group that keeps women limited in movement here in Saudi.

The fear that veiling and covering women will have to subcome to the idea that to uncover is better. In order to appease the fear of others or to adapt to a way of thinking that believes their way is better. The very proponents of such beliefs will, when it comes down to it, have Muslims "change" Islam to better suit their own wishes. As if to modernize Islam into some thing that all can be comfortable with no matter if it is truth or not.

I say VEIL ON MY SISTERS if that is what you choose to do, for whatever reason you choose to do it. If it is religious, cultural or political VEIL ON and show others that you CAN do so much more than others would believe. VEIL ON and allow no one to hinder you even if they believe a small piece of cloth can render you incapable. VEIL ON and force others to come face to face with their own fears and either learn to get over them or fall victim to them. For I know and I see so many veiled women doing so much in life, I would just hope the rest of the world could see it to.


* I will be emailing this entry to the author of the article.