A smattering of articles have appeared in newspapers lately, aiming to spread the word about how fashionable Muslim women are. These articles seem to refute the idea that Muslim women are against or unreceptive to fashion: “You can be religious and fashionable! Lots of them are! See?”
Is this supposed to be a compliment? Generalizing an entire religious group into a massive worldwide body of snappy dressers?
I wrote earlier on the popular perception of Muslim/Middle Eastern women as label whores, and many of these articles play up that exact angle. The Independent’s article, written by Sarah Buys, openly states, “This [retail development in the Gulf], in turn, has given rise to one of the most sartorially savvy, high-fashion buying demographs in the world. Middle Eastern Muslim women aren’t just prolific shoppers, now they are discerning, prolific shoppers.”
“Quit your bitching,” you might say. “It’s a compliment to be considered fashionable. What’s your problem?” My problem is that, with this characterization of Muslims as rich and fashionable, we slide right into “label whore” territory, which brings along with it labels like “rich Arab teenager” or the “spoiled Persian princess,” both younger cousins to the harmful Jewish-American Princess stereotype. These are class-based stereotypes that attach themselves to specific ethnicities and, now, to Muslims. They are not compliments.
If that’s not offensive enough for you, we can always take a look at the underlying Orientalism surrounding these articles. The title of The Independent’s article is “Muslin women: Beneath the Veil.” And The New York Sun piece, written by Jesse Sposato, is entitled, “Conservative Muslim Women Hide Knack for Fashion Under Their Religious Robes.” All this “beneath the veil” crap is tired. Women who wear more conservative clothes in line with their interpretations of Islamic requirements just wear clothes under those things! But these articles can’t be satisfied with that. What kind of clothes?
Hold on to your fantasies: they wear sexy clothes! Sposato’s article recounts a young woman’s anecdote about what a girl she knew would wear under her abaya: “When I was living in Dubai, there was a girl who wore a closed abaya with a bikini under it! She would just be at university walking around with a bikini under her abaya, and nobody would know. It was great.”
And Buys doesn’t even wait to get into the article to fantasize about what Muslim women are wearing under there. She comes right out and sexualizes us all in the tagline: “…And under that shapeless, monochrome exterior, don’t be surprised to find a daring and imaginative sense of style – not to mention a miniskirt or pink hot pants.”
So, according to these articles, Muslim women walking around in austere black robes are practically naked underneath. Ironic, isn’t it? The majority of these women wear conservative clothes to take focus away from their bodies (in line with cultural practices or certain Islamic schools of thought), and these articles bring it right back to them.
These articles would make more sense to me if these papers were doing some sort of style profile on several different religions; Islam is not the only religion with modesty guidelines. But singling out Muslim women (none of the articles mentioned modesty requirements for men) in order to sexually hint at what’s “underneath the veil” just doesn’t sit well with me.
I have two points:1) While this article focuses on the dangers of Muslim women stereotyped as “label whores”, and the orientalist outlook, it also inadvertently gives rise to the perception that all (or most) Muslim women have money to spend. There are plenty (maybe even more) of Muslim sisters who live in dire poverty coming from non-Muslim and non-Middle Eastern origin countries (lets say India, Russia, China, recent Muslim immigrants living in North American or Western Europe)or from poverty stricken Muslim-majority countries(Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan). A label like this may divert attention away from the fact that while some Muslim women have a disposable income, many Muslim women are living in abject poverty. People might be unsympathetic to these women, if they already have a false perception that Muslim women everywhere (or in general) spend money lavishly.2) We also have to be critical of why Muslim women who are veiled are being subjected to a double standard. Yes I agree, leave them alone, why is it such a big deal, but let’s look at India and China’s economy and the growth of their middle class. Surely men and women from these respective countries are also spending alot on luxury items?The question then is, why doesn’t the mainstream media pick up on that and blow it out of proportion (although there is a tendency to blame global warming on changing consumption habits in India and China these days). I’m hesitant to make any type of connection here but is it because the majority of women in these countries aren’t always veiled so it’s not as “exotic” or “spin-able” (for lack of a better word)?
Anonymous–you make some GREAT points.
Great analysis, Zeynab, and excellent points, anonymous!
Thanks! It’s ironic that the western media criticizes Muslim cultures for paying too much attention to what Muslim women do or do not wear (and that too I think is blown out of proportion), while they do the same thing! This blog is quite timely
I wonder if anyone has made the argument of veiling being more along the lines of a process (maybe spectrum is the right word?), more than a static do-or-don’t decision. I don’t veil, but I do when I pray, I do when I go to the mosque. I quite like my veil in those situations. Coming from a South Asian/Desi background where most women of all South Asian religions (Hindu, Sikh, Parsee, Jain, Muslim, Christian etc) use a dupatta/chunni/sari pallu to cover their hair out of respect during religious rituals, and as a fashion accessory at festive events, I’ve always associated it with culture, within a specific time and place, more than religion itself. But that might just be me, I tend to define community more along cultural lines than religious ones.One Muslimah from the balkans once told me that previous to the “arabization/standardization” efforts of wahabbi backed groups (to spread a “pure” Islam), veiling was no more than a simple handkerchief tied under the ears. I can’t help but feel the same way regarding my South Asian Muslim culture, which (atleast in my case) has retained alot of it’s pre-Islamic roots (respectively)and South Asian notions of veiling (at one point not too long ago) were more specific to South Asian cultural norms and not “Islamic” ones (women from elite Hindu and Sikh families also practiced “purdah”)Perhaps I have strayed from the original point, but just thought I’d put it out there. Aah, so many places one could go with this veil, what to make of it all?!
anonymous, thanks for the comment!Personally, I believe that veiling is a culture-based thing. There are some really interesting books/research about this done by Fadwa el Guindi and Fatima Mernissi, if you’re interested.
there’s no pleasing ya’ll!i don’t know if anybody else has ever lived in the gulf, but orientalization/fetishization or not, that shit is true.also, you shouldn’t be upset about the whole rich arab teenager thing: if there’s a spoilt rich princess stereotype for every group, it’s equitable at least. i’d rather have that than be thought of as oppressed – and the world loves labels, so it seems a choice must be made.
This is kind of funny…it reminds me of a story someone was telling me about a friend of hers (hijabi) that worked at Victoria’s Secret. Whenever this girl told people about her job, they would all react with some kind of shock/horror (Muslims and I’m assuming non-Muslims too).She would always reply, “What, we don’t wear underwear?”I don’t think many people get that hijabis are pretty much regular people too. Hell, I was guilty of the same thing until I became Muslim.Also, I wouldn’t say that the “label-whore” designation would only apply to Muslim women. I don’t really know where everyone here is from, but in NY you’ll see Arab guys pushing brand-new Benzes with music blaring, Pakistani guys wearing Diesel jeans and Gucci sunglasses to biology lecture at 9am, etc…and I wouldn’t exactly say it’s a small portion of them either.And yes, excellent points made by all.
Funny, I randomly found this article today, and I was going to post it on my blog tomorrow. I agree the title is far too cliched, and also not the misspelling ‘Muslin’ instead of ‘Muslim’!! I’ll link over to your post too – interesting analysis!
very interesting analysis… i do agree with you though eventhough in malaysia not many hijabis clothe themselves in abaya… or have the luxury to spend money lavishly… most of us still get the awkward stares from the boutique assistants if and when we walk into the luxury brand boutiques when in fact the west have ‘acknowledged’ the fact that Muslim women spend a lot on luxury items…why do we have to be the subject of these two extreme treatments? both carry negative effects… the former makes us look like we don’t have money or not fashionable, and the latter makes us look like “label whores”…