Impact of Islamophobia on covered women: Muslim student in Australia and I wear a headscarf
23 July 2017By Alila Pramiyanti
Currently I am a Muslim student in Australia and I wear a headscarf. One day a
stranger approached me on my way to a bus stop and asked in a friendly tone
why I wear the hijab. Then I sensed different vibes when she said she didn’t
like women wearing a face-veil, the niqab or the full body cover with an eye
mesh, the burqa.
“For me, it is important to have eye contact when I’m speaking with someone,”
she said. “By looking at their face and eyes, I can build trust with them.”
She added that as trust was important to Australians, others should adapt,
just as Australians should respect cultures in other countries.
As verbal or physical attacks to covered women have increased lately, I
thought how lucky I was. Several friends had experienced verbal bullying and
negative stereotype due to their hijab. Yet I wondered whether the apparent
sense of Islamophobia was due to a particular style of covering such as the
face-veil. And is there any relation between covering the hair or face, and
radicalism?
Discussions about such covering of women are mostly inextricable from
discussions about politics. Soeharto’s repressive New Order regime saw covered
women as embodying a political movement that threatened the government. In
1982, the New Order banned headscarves in government offices and state
schools. Until the early 1990s, covered Muslim women found obstacles in
getting a job and getting married; they also faced threats of being dismissed
from school or work, and were labeled as fanatics.
In May 1998, young hijab-wearing women activists became a familiar sight on
the front lines of demonstrations that eventually brought down the Soeharto
regime. The headscarves offered women activists symbolic protection from fear
of intimidation or violence during prodemocracy rallies and heightened their
mobility and public political activism.
Thus, most scholars agree that the rising popularity of hjab in Indonesia is
related to its symbol of defiance of the authoritarian state and the new
freedom brought by democratic reform.
However, in many Western countries where Muslims are a minority, the hijab and
other forms of covering still represent woman’s oppression and submission by
man. Lately women in hijab have become more marginalized because of the
increasing number of terror acts claimed by the Islamic State. A number of
cities have even banned the niqab and burqa.
Moreover, mainstream media stereotype covered women as fanatics, extremists or
even worse, terrorists through reports and images of head-to-toe covered women
as part of reports on terrorism.
Islamophobia is mainly caused by terror and extreme violence by violent
jihadists wearing Islamic attributes associated with Islam such as a white
cloak and headgear, a long beard, and Arabic names. But those who killed
innocents are not real Muslims. No religion, including Islam, allows people to
kill others. The public should be reminded again and again that not all
Islamic symbols including covering for women represent terrorists and
jihadists.
Recently following the attacks in London former Australian prime minister Tony
Abbot was quoted as saying, “Islamophobia hasn’t killed anyone, but Islamist
terrorism has killed tens of thousands of people.”
I disagree with the attachment of the word“Islamist” with “terrorism” but I
can neither blame Westerners for generalizing Muslims as terrorists because
the attacks are always claimed by the IS.
Reports reveal that American officials have admitted the US’ role in the
creation of the seeds of Al-Qaeda, the precursor of IS, as part of their
strategy in power rivalry against Russia. However, the issue gains less space
in the media.
With stigmatization of violence only heaped on Muslims, Muslim women are
especially vulnerable as their covering is the most visible form of
identity.Thus, many Muslim women nowadays cannot express themselves in public
without feeling frightened and anxious.
Covering should be understood as an expression of piousness rather than
extremism. Beyond a fashion statement, the covering is a stance of Muslim
women’s agency, freedom, independency, and identity. Less stereotyping of
Muslim women by mainstream media would help covered women experience less
bullying and hatred.
Alila Pramiyanti Alila Pramiyanti, PhD candidate at the Digital Media
Research Centre, Queensland University of Technology
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EsinIslam.Com
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