# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/101 "2015-12-14T14:36:14Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > And of course, the same has been true of the verses (1 Cor.) interpreted by, or for, [Christian women](http://www.headcoveringmovement.com/). Beyond that, Hindu women have traditionally worn a scarf over the head called a dupatta. Historically, there have been places and times at which it was all but a legal requirement (including the last century in much of India). Nowadays, not so much. But the point is clear I think. ---
**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 14, 2015, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/102 "2015-12-14T16:27:31Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > You said all the haters only think about Saudi Wahhabites when they think “Muslim”. And? This is true, as is obvious with the repeated idea that the women are legally required to wear the hidjab widely in the muslim world, when it is not at all the case. > [@](#): > > And frankly, I don’t get what you’re saying in this post at all. Those are the three what? there are only three countries that legally require the hidjab. That is it. The only objective item in the map shows the opposite of the claim - legal requirement is rare. > [@CarnalK](#): > > Yes it does. I don’t know exactly how accurate it is but the dark green is labeled "violence or legal prosecutions for violations ". > > Anyways, I don’t think hijab=oppression so I’ll just bow out now. No in fact it does not. The next-to-darkest green is not defining any clear standard, there is a melange of the objective - the countries with the actual restrictions, with vague assertions. Even the other greens (the pretended focus of the map is clearly the islamic majority countries, but strangely does not cover many African) are of the equally suspicious qualifications. The green that is “custom dictates modesty” is absurd, as if the neighboring countries uncolored do not? I have been to many… No this map is trying to make a kind of message through a pretended ‘objectivity’ that is in fact lacking, it is a spin. ---
**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 14, 2015, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/103 "2015-12-14T17:00:59Z")
I got it from [Hijab by country wikipedia page](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hijab_by_country) so if you really think it’s misleading and just “spin” feel free to mention on the talk page for the article. They generally take a poor view of political spin on their site. ---
**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 14, 2015, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/104 "2015-12-14T17:18:51Z")
I am curious what message you think they are sneaking in to that map though. Don’t quite get it. ---
**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 14, 2015, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/105 "2015-12-14T17:28:58Z")
Nm ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/106 "2015-12-14T19:08:22Z")
I heavily considered wearing one while travelling solo in Malaysia, at least in the less touristy areas. If it wasn’t for the fact I really wasn’t sure how to wear one, given that my hair is waist-length, and I didn’t want to look an utter buffoon, I would have given it a go. I doubt I’d go as far as my Grandad though, who did keep Ramadan every year for something like 15 years, despite not being Muslim. He started when he lived in Saudi, when he made friends with a bunch of local guys (he even joined them on a trip to Mecca, they smuggled him in despite the area being barred to non-Muslims), but he kept it up for years after he moved back to the UK. I also know my Mum wore hijab when she spent 6 months in Morocco, but she was living with a local family, and the daughters of the family decided she should. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2015, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/107 "2015-12-15T02:39:24Z")
[A local school just tried it for a day.](http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20151210/news/151219957/) I wonder whether it will start a trend. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2015, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/108 "2015-12-15T21:57:10Z")
No one should wear a headscarf unless they live in the desert and need to keep sand out of their hair. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/109 "2015-12-23T07:28:54Z")
According to these two Muslim women, no. “[As Muslim women, we actually ask you _not_ to wear the hijab in the name of interfaith solidarity.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/12/21/as-muslim-women-we-actually-ask-you-not-to-wear-the-hijab-in-the-name-of-interfaith-solidarity/?tid=pm_pop_b)” > [@](#): > > Last week, three female religious leaders — a Jewish rabbi, an Episcopal vicar and a Unitarian reverend — and a male imam, or Muslim prayer leader, walked into the sacred space in front of the ornately-tiled minbar, or pulpit, at the Khadeeja Islamic Center in West Valley City, Utah. The women were smiling widely, their hair covered with swaths of bright scarves, to support “Wear a Hijab” day. > … > > For us, as mainstream Muslim women, born in Egypt and India, the spectacle at the mosque was a painful reminder of the well-financed effort by conservative Muslims to dominate modern Muslim societies. > … > > This conflation of hijab with the secular word headscarf is misleading. “Hijab” literally means “curtain” in Arabic. It also means “hiding,” ”obstructing” and “isolating” someone or something. It is never used in the Koran to mean headscarf. > … > > Unfortunately, the idea of “hijab” as a mandatory headscarf is promulgated by naïve efforts such as “World Hijab Day,” started in 2013 by Nazma Khan, the Bangladeshi American owner of a Brooklyn-based headscarf company, and Ahlul Bayt, a Shiite-proselytizing TV station, that the University of Calgary, in southwest Canada, promotes as a resource for its participation in “World Hijab Day.” > … > > Please do this instead: Do not wear a headscarf in “solidarity” with the ideology that most silences us, equating our bodies with “honor.” Stand with us instead with moral courage against the ideology of Islamism that demands we cover our hair. Also watch the following two videos. There are differences between them which preclude a direct or definitive comparison, but it’s still interesting. Walking in Manhattan in Western clothing/a Hijab (burka): [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgw6y3cH7tA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgw6y3cH7tA) Walking in Paris while Jewish: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AltyhmrIFgo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AltyhmrIFgo) I suggest that leftist women who want to “confuse the issue for bastards that would hurt our Muslim sisters” and be truly brave should do like the man in the second video and go to places where they think the prejudice is greatest and the response would be the strongest. I can’t say for sure where they think that might be, but I’m guessing that might be a place they’d term “redneck”. ---
**Author:** ![Torontonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/45deac/32.png) [@Torontonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torontonian)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/110 "2015-12-23T07:48:56Z")
I always found this particular one cool [https://kanzu.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/arafat1.jpg](https://kanzu.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/arafat1.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/111 "2015-12-23T13:29:32Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > According to these two Muslim women, no. “[As Muslim women, we actually ask you _not_ to wear the hijab in the name of interfaith solidarity.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/12/21/as-muslim-women-we-actually-ask-you-not-to-wear-the-hijab-in-the-name-of-interfaith-solidarity/?tid=pm_pop_b)” “Interfaith solidarity” isn’t the right terminology for the specific gesture of donning hijab. (General demonstrations of interfaith solidarity recently look like [this](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/a-walk-of-faith-against-hatred-and-fear/2015/12/20/394dc3ae-a741-11e5-bff5-905b92f5f94b_story.html).) Indeed, many Muslim women do not wear hijab and do not want to, and some more who would like not to. That’s great. But to the extent that choice of garments can embody support for these women, most non-Muslim women already do so routinely, by not wearing hijab. Duh. But… that’s not the issue being addressed _here_. Muslim women who do wear hijab, and want to (and non-Muslim women who resemble same), have been targeted by bigots; the point is to support them and resist that. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/112 "2015-12-23T15:42:57Z")
When the previous Quebec government proposed a law to ban religous symbols (except crosses) from anyone in the public sector (including all professors, all doctors in hospitals, among others), one of my colleagues started wearing a head scarf as a protest (I wore a yarmulke once too). The bill did not pass and the party lost an election in which that proposal was prominent, although there were plenty of other reasons for their losing. But they were sure that that issue would get them all the rural seats. It didn’t. I have a niece who lost all her hair in her twenties (some kind of autoimmune disease–no eyelashes is a real pain) and sometimes wears a head scarf; other times a wig. I hadn’t heard any attack on her as a muslim. ---
**Author:** ![nani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58956e/32.png) [@nani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nani)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/113 "2015-12-24T05:16:09Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > And of course, the same has been true of the verses (1 Cor.) interpreted by, or for, [Christian women](http://www.headcoveringmovement.com/). The kind of ironic thing is that the Biblical verses that talk about headcovering are pretty sexist. > [@CarnalK](#): > > Far be it from me to question our resident expert on all things Muslim but maybe you could refute or explain this map:[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cd/Map3.10RequiredDressCodesforWomen\_compressed.jpg/1200px-Map3.10RequiredDressCodesforWomen\_compressed.jpg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cd/Map3.10RequiredDressCodesforWomen_compressed.jpg/1200px-Map3.10RequiredDressCodesforWomen_compressed.jpg) The categories of that map don’t make sense to me. What are “specific garments”? Also, any map like this that has Uzbekistan and Morocco in the same category is on another planet. Unless something like [this has been happening in Morocco](http://www.rferl.org/content/uzbekistan-deveiling-drive-hijab/27070345.html) without me knowing. I feel comfortable dismissing it for that reason alone. > [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > According to these two Muslim women, no. “[As Muslim women, we actually ask you _not_ to wear the hijab in the name of interfaith solidarity.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/12/21/as-muslim-women-we-actually-ask-you-not-to-wear-the-hijab-in-the-name-of-interfaith-solidarity/?tid=pm_pop_b)” An issue that this article has stirred up - and one reason why it’s being criticized so fiercely by American Muslim activists - is that the communal discussion around the headscarf has been shifted to be almost entirely a question of either “good and required” or “good but situational/non-mandatory”. A viewpoint like that expressed in this article, that the headscarf is in fact not good, has in most (in this case, American Muslim) contexts become taboo. Needless to say, that’s not a healthy thing. A similar and related dynamic occurred in Egypt in the 1970s. Unfortunately, those who hold this kind of viewpoint within the “community” - some Muslims and some closeted and open ex-Muslims - have to contend with the fact that when they speak up they are not just confronting a pretty big communal status quo, they are often used by people for whom criticism of Islam is an excuse for bigotry and racism. Non-Muslims who wish to show solidarity with this group - they are, after all, often in an extremely vulnerable position as ‘double minorities’ - have to contend with this problem as well, \*in addition \*to their - our - everpresent problem of “do you even know what you’re talking about?”. Furthermore, as apparently with the author of this article, some of that dissenting group have turned to unsavory people and ideas for support. Seeing this, even self-identified progressive Muslim activists - some of whom are unsavory in their own right - here in the US throw them all under the bus and call them sell-outs, which alienates them further, and further limits the range of acceptable viewpoints within the community. I personally don’t like this movement of non-Muslims to wear headscarves just out of solidarity because I am wary of it becoming yet another way of defining the “Muslim Woman” as a monolithic identity. But I can completely understand why people with good intentions would want to do so in the current climate. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/114 "2015-12-24T11:39:59Z")
Thank you very much for your thoughtful post, **ñañi**. It really hits on the issues that have made me hesitate. The world doesn’t need one more middle class white woman playing at social justice warrior…but on the other hand, just like those Muslim women aren’t monolithic symbols, I’m not just a middle class white woman…I’m me. I will admit, I’ve not donned a headscarf wrapped in a hijab style yet. I haven’t worked this stuff out in my own head yet. But I have switched from my last year’s 5 inch knit scarf to a pashmina scarf, and I’ve found myself wrapping it from the top of my head across my throat to cut the wind. It’s…a very practical garment. It’s also a sign of my ambivalence. It works to keep me wrestling with the issue in my own heart every time I leave the house, and I hope it’s made me a bit more conscious of the women who are Muslim that I meet everyday, and reminds me to offer a smile and some conversation, because there \*are \*actual people there, not symbols. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/115 "2016-01-15T05:20:28Z")
Muslim woman in Muslim garb goes to Trump rally. Nothing happens. [Don Surber: Muslim: I trolled a Trump rally and wasn't bullied. Waah!](http://donsurber.blogspot.com/2016/01/muslim-i-trolled-trump-rally-and-wasnt.html?spref=tw) ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/116 "2016-01-15T08:31:56Z")
> [@nani](#): > > A viewpoint like that expressed in this article, that the headscarf is in fact not good, has in most (in this case, American Muslim) contexts become taboo. Needless to say, that’s not a healthy thing. Except, how does that square with [http://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/f4/5e/37/f45e371047ea00772fbc8076bb6ccaa3.jpg](http://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/f4/5e/37/f45e371047ea00772fbc8076bb6ccaa3.jpg) [http://alisonkerr.wordpress.com/2010/08/05/headscarf-girls/](http://alisonkerr.wordpress.com/2010/08/05/headscarf-girls/) It’s not a matter of whether a headscarf is good or bad in itself - the question is, who decides, and what business is it of anyone else’s what someone decides to wear of their own free will? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/117 "2016-01-15T14:54:40Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > Muslim woman in Muslim garb goes to Trump rally. Nothing happens. [http://donsurber.blogspot.com/2016/01/muslim-i-trolled-trump-rally-and-wasnt.html?spref=tw](http://donsurber.blogspot.com/2016/01/muslim-i-trolled-trump-rally-and-wasnt.html?spref=tw) I can’t tell you how much I enjoy links to random dipshits’ blogs. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/118 "2016-01-15T15:29:02Z")
I’m not sure wearing a hijab counts as cultural appropriation. ---
**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:** [January 15, 2016, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/119 "2016-01-15T16:01:26Z")
PatrickLondon, no one would mistake the Queen’s headscarf for a hijab which is what’s really under discussion. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047/120 "2016-01-15T19:48:08Z")
But freedom of choice is still the point. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-should-non-muslim-women-wear-headscarves/740047.md?page=7)