This is one of those questions that pops into my mind occasionally, but never when I’m around anyone who might actually know the answer: how do Western women deal with the whole veiling/face covering issue when traveling to/through a place where it is either customary or a legal requirement?
I can’t exactly pop down to my local Bloomingdale’s and buy a burqa, so if I were going to travel to Iran (not bloody likely at the moment, as an American Jewish feminist with a big mouth), how would I be prepared upon arrival? I don’t suppose they issue burqas on the plane…
Or what if I had to catch a connecting flight somewhere in that neck of the woods? I suppose veiling would be the thing to do, even in the international section of the airport, but is there some stop-gap quasi-veiling measure that one could take? A long trench coat and something to cover the head, maybe? Or would even that be considered too risqué?
A blue-eyed American girl I dated once had done a lot of traveling in the Middle East. She said she wore a veil in Syria, but only when she ventured into the ‘real Syria’ – she didn’t get stoned for getting off the plane unveiled.
Iranians don’t wear burqas, but you would need to take the dress code seriously. You would need to wear a veil anytime you appear in public in Iran, even at the airport. This means you would have to have a wrap over your hair. It would have to cover most of your hair. You don’t have to wear a trenchcoat or the chador (the black outfit that is often associated with Iran), but you will need to dress very modestly. No shorts or short sleeve shirts (that goes for men as well). Men also should avoid wearing shirts that have western-style collars and they should not wear ties.
It’s best to get into compliance with the dress code when your plane enters Iranian airspace.
I never saw a non-Muslim woman in Saudi wearing a veil, but I never got to Riyadh so I don’t know that this is always the case. They did wear the whole black, body cover, and sometimes the headcover. The weird thing is that when I was in Saudi I quickly adapted to not even looking at the women, so I don’t recall for certain. You’re not supposed to stare at women there.
Since you don’t just casually pop over to Saudi Arabia, I would imagine that most women would have something before they arrived. I don’t even recall there being (non-muslim) women on ANY of my flights into the kingdom, although there were often foreign women at the airport. But mainly those that I saw were leaving.
I was in Saudi in 1994 on business. We had one USAF civilian employee with us. She covered her hair when out on the street or in the automobile. She also sat in the back seat, but I don’t recall if it was intentional. Once in the building were we were working, with Saudi Air Force personel attending, she did not have her hair covered.
She did not wear an Abaya, the word in Saudi IIRC, on the street.
Not too long ago there was a major squabble about a U.S. servicewoman, and I believe she was in a command position, who did not want to “duck and cover” when she was out and about. In the discussions that ensued it was pointed out that other visiting non-Saudi women, government and diplomatic people and wives of same – went about in normal western attire that was businesslike and modest. (There were pictures and I wish I could remember who they were.)
I did not mean to suggest in the previous post, of course, that anyone should flaunt defiance of local customs anywhere; that would be rude. If I were to go to S.A. (which I have no intention of doing) I would make darn sure to cover up. Just as if I went into a cathedral in Italy I would follow the local customs there.
Rogzilla, just out of curiousity, what is the opinion in Saudi and other Muslim countries about women wearing slacks? There was a time not so very long ago when it was considered highly improper in America and Europe for a woman to wear pants.
I’m interested in knowing more about the situation for American Muslim women who travel to traditional Muslim countries–this is purely anecdotal, of course, but one of my friends told me that when she went to Pakistan to visit family, people hurled insults at her and her mother on the street for not being properly modest (like a large percentage of Muslim women in the US, they keep their hair covered but otherwise dress in normal western clothing). I’m assuming that the fact that people knew they were Muslim probably contributed to this, since in a way they would have been seen as not being properly observant of their own faith.
Does anyone know if this kind of incident is prevalent?
I used to tutor Spanish for spare cash in grad school, and one of my students was an Iranian-American who had come to the U.S. at the age of ten. She went back a few years ago to visit family in Iran, and said that even in full chador, and with native command of Farsi, she still got hassled by the religious police. Apparently her body language had gotten Americanized, and they could spot it even under the chador and yelled at her for being immodest.
Are you sure about that? It was my understanding that no religion other than the Saudi brand of Islam could be openly worshipped, but that there was no ban on Jewish people in and of themselves and, in fact, there is a small native Jewish minority.
Now, I can understand them not being eager to admit Isrealis into S.A., but Isrealis and Jews are not the same thing, though there is considerable overlap.
For that matter, there are Arab Muslim Isrealis, too.
My advice would be particularly given these troubled times, to be extremely discreet about your religion - if you are Jewish - in certain countries.
I know Jewish people here, some have even adopted non-obviously Jewish surnames to avoid any hassle. (Cohen->Jones, etc). There shouldn’t be any hassle, and it’s disgusting that one can’t be open about one’s religion, but these are times of conflict and it is better to be safe than sorry.
Look, I’m not going to the Middle East myself anytime soon, let alone somewhere like Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia. If and when I go, I’ll probably start off with somewhere like Turkey, although I’m still sorry I never made it to Morocco when I was studying in Spain. I was just curious about how other Western women have handled the veiling issue.
“In some instances, visas have been denied to Jews and to people whose passports included an Israeli stamp (or an Egyptian stamp showing an exit – into Israel – at Rafah).”
Holders of Israeli passports or passports with Israeli stamps in them. Passengers not complying with Saudi conventions of dress and behaviour; including those who appear to be in a state of intoxication. Those of the Jewish faith."
So, you’re posting proof of the nonfactual content of your earlier post, elmwood? Glad to see that, but I do have a few quibbles:
[list=1][li]Yahoo is not an agency of the government of Saudi Arabia.[/li][li]World Wise is not an agency of the government of Saudi Arabia.[/li][li]The Commission on Filipinos Overseas of the government of the Republic of the Philippines is not an agency of the government of Saudi Arabia.[/list=1][/li]
Hie ye to the Saudi embassy’s homepage (I always start at www.embassy.org when I need to get to the page for a foreign country’s embassy or consulates in the United States) and read the actual visa requirements they’ve posted there. And you can also do a websearch for news stories of some Jewish people who’ve managed to visit some people in the kingdom’s government.
One of NPR’s female journalists now works for a humanitarian organization in Afghanistan. She said that when she was there covering the war for NPR, she wore the same traditional clothing as Afghan men, and didn’t have a problem. Seems, they didn’t recognize her as being “female” for the most part. Which might tie into the whole racebias business. I don’t recall if she’d switched back to Western style dress since the war, or if she was still dressing male. You can listen to the interview here.
Uhhb … why don’t you try a search for news about Jewish officials – not realted to te US military – who have been welcomed into Saudi Arabia. Government source, please, since you asked that of me.
“Visas: There is no such thing as a tourist visa for Saudi Arabia. The only way to enter the country is with a visitor’s transit or (if you’re Muslim) hajj or umrah visa. To get a visitor’s visa you will have to be sponsored by a Saudi individual or company. Your other option is a 24 or 48-hour transit visa- to get one you have to prove that you had no choice other than stop-over in Saudi Arabia en route to your final destination. Visas aren’t issued to holders of passports with an Israeli stamp (or an Egyptian stamp showing an exit- into Israel- at Rafah) or to people proven to be Jewish. Reconfirm visa requirements with carrier before departure.”
It’s also possible (probable) that the Saudis could restrict or deny Jewish visas and just not publicly admit it, because admitting that sort of thing looks really bad. It’s possible it might not even be a written thing, but just policy.