# Would/Should Non-Muslim Women Wear Headscarves? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 10, 2015, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047 "2015-12-10T04:33:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/61 "2015-12-11T15:35:04Z")
I wouldn’t wear a headscarf in support of anything. There are women being attacked for wearing head coverings, and there are far more women being attacked and shamed for not wearing head coverings. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/62 "2015-12-11T16:47:30Z")
> [@Chicken\_Fingers](#): > > I wouldn’t wear a headscarf in support of anything. There are women being attacked for wearing head coverings, and there are far more women being attacked and shamed for not wearing head coverings. Equally abhorrent, of course. Which happens in your town? ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/63 "2015-12-11T16:56:24Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > Equally abhorrent, of course. Which happens in your town? Does it matter? Anywhere I go as a woman, I am subject to shaming and violence against me for whatever choices I make. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/64 "2015-12-11T17:01:15Z")
> [@Chicken\_Fingers](#): > > Does it matter? Anywhere I go as a woman, I am subject to shaming and violence against me for whatever choices I make. I had no idea. Guess I’ll give my wife a pass on never changing the toilet paper. She’s got enough to worry about. ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/65 "2015-12-11T17:16:45Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > I had no idea. Guess I’ll give my wife a pass on never changing the toilet paper. She’s got enough to worry about. Plus she’s choosing not to support your throne of male privilege. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/66 "2015-12-11T17:25:29Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > What being uncovered in front of an outside man feels like is being without a shirt in front of a stranger. Or with no pants, I suppose, if you’re a man. Being uncovered…it’s like walking around with your balls hanging out. In the privacy of your own home, with your family members, not a huge deal. My father did not do this. I do not do this. Did your father? ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/67 "2015-12-11T17:25:45Z")
> [@Chicken\_Fingers](#): > > Does it matter? Anywhere I go as a woman, I am subject to shaming and violence against me for whatever choices I make. That is wrong, and that is why it matters. Decent people should support women in whatever choices they make in such realms. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/68 "2015-12-11T17:32:04Z")
> [@Chicken\_Fingers](#): > > Plus she’s choosing not to support your throne of male privilege. Hey, she sits on it way more than I do! ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/69 "2015-12-11T17:32:09Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > My father did not do this. I do not do this. Did your father? Actually, yes, but that’s not the point. Walking around with no pants, but underwear on, or in a bathrobe are probably more common, and as close to an equivalent experience as I can suggest for a man, since men aren’t expected to cover up in the same way women are in any culture. They might not cause one to dart for cover in the same manner as balls to the breeze or a topless woman, though. Consider yourself blessed. ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/70 "2015-12-11T17:42:32Z")
I think men should wear bras in support of us women who choose to, plus . . . moobs. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/71 "2015-12-11T18:46:32Z")
I’ve been thinking that head scarves and face scarves are a fashion accessory for the times, what with endless public cameras and the current zeitgeist of privacy worries. Unfortunately, the current zeitgeist of fear would put a different connotation on it. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/72 "2015-12-11T23:57:56Z")
Nope. I’m not interested in a symbol used in the oppression of other women. ---
**Author:** ![Ramira](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ramira/32/344_2.png) [@Ramira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ramira)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2015, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/73 "2015-12-12T02:55:18Z")
The simple Hidjab is not oppressing any what is more oppression is the condescension of bigotry and the biases of the ignorant. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2015, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/74 "2015-12-12T02:59:20Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Nope. I’m not interested in a symbol used in the oppression of other women. Do you also avoid shirts? ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2015, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/75 "2015-12-12T05:54:28Z")
> [@Ramira](#): > > The image of the hidjab contre the niqab is seen even in this cartoon of Hidjab Fasion from the Syrian cartoonist in 2007 [and while it is very Dasascene, the variations are what one has everywhere in the north africa and middle east regions with some slight differences](https://adiamondinsunlight.wordpress.com/2007/05/26/hijab-fashion-shami-style/), from Hidjab sexy to hidjab chic, etc. > The niqab, even in the Syria is marked ‘wahhabe’ for that is the sectarians who wear it. My niece goes to a (charter) elementary school which is mostly Somali kids, so she wears them just because her friends do, though she isn’t Muslim. A lot of (adult) Somalis wear amazing hijdabs that are like effusive displays of color, (especially compared to what Iraqi women wear), while the Afghan women I know tend to wear more “conservative” ones that are extremely smart and stylish. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2015, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/76 "2015-12-12T18:02:28Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Do you also avoid shirts? Shirts aren’t something only women are required to wear. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2015, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/77 "2015-12-12T18:25:36Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Shirts aren’t something only women are required to wear. Yes they are. Men can walk around topless- it may be tacky, but it’s not illegal or obscene. Women can’t. Even in the places where it’s not illegal, it’d definitely not be accepted. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/78 "2015-12-13T01:36:24Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Shirts aren’t something only women are required to wear. Funny how men’s swimsuits are always just trunks, then, while women’s bathing suits always cover their breasts. To answer the OP - well, actually, I guess I can’t really answer. It is certainly not needed as a sign of solidarity in the largest Muslim country in the world, and plenty of Muslim women around me don’t veil. Most of the time if I want to know someone’s religion I have to ask them. For me, it would be more useful to do Ramadan fasting as a way to experience what Muslims do, and/or express solidarity with them. I have fasted for a day or two at a time here and there, and know a number of people who do the same thing, especially if they have a spouse who is fasting. But I have never fasted for the entire month and although it is hypothetically an interesting idea, I wouldn’t do it. Too much effort for no apparent reason. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/79 "2015-12-13T01:41:56Z")
Nobody fasts for the entire month of Ramadan… ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/80 "2015-12-13T01:48:01Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Funny how men’s swimsuits are always just trunks, then, while women’s bathing suits always cover their breasts. You should try European beaches. But the fact remains, “make sure your hair is always covered!” is an additional prescription for women in many Muslim societies. It’s not like they wear hijabs without shirts. Perensemoe, what do you mean? Of course lots on f people faste throughout daylight hours of Ramadan. Surely you didn’t feel the need to point out they don’t eat at all for a full month. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047.md?page=5)