The Re-Culturalization of the Veil in Kuwait (from a Non-Veiled Persepective)
Look, I am not a veiled woman. I can’t tell you what it feels like to walk under 100 degree heat with nearly every inch of my skin covered. I can’t say that I know how it feels like to navigate a clothing store with the length and width specifications that veiled women need to be culturally or religiously mindful of. I’m not even going to pretend to understand what it feels like for a woman to both try and express her identity through her appearance while simultaneously trying to project an exterior image of Islamic piety.
These are all experiences which I have never really grappled with all that much because I am not a veiled woman. So I’m not going to be talking about the veiled woman’s experience with the physical act of wearing a veil in any way. That said, I am totally fascinated with this new veiling phenomena which seems to be sweeping up Kuwait and dividing women up into sub-cultures of a sub-culture.
This divisive phenomena being, of course, the turban.
Now, if you live in Kuwait, you know how it is. Kuwait is the melting pot of virtually every trend ever created in the history of time and space. It’s Habba Land; Habba Nation; freaking Habba-palooza. One popular person starts doing something a little different and, before you know it, every other starry-eyed onlooker is doing it too. This is the natural progression of pretty much every trend to come about in Kuwait and probably everywhere else too.
And, hey, people will always have opinions on trends (I certainly do). Man or woman, veiled or not: you have a right to express your opinion on every single thing that you see, hear, or think. As long as you’re respectful about it, you can lovingly praise or endlessly rail on any trend you want. But, there’s something a little different about this turban thing.
You see, the turban trend does something more than divide people up in the ‘Hot’ or ‘Not’ camps: it divides them up in ‘feminine” and ‘unfeminine’ camps too. Or the ‘Islamic’ and ‘non-Islamic.’ Or the ‘Arab’ and ‘Non-Arab.’ And suddenly, whether we’ve realized it or not, by having a vocal (and sometimes very mean) opinion on the turban trend, people in Kuwait are actively reshaping what it means for a Muslim, Arab woman to embody all of these terms.
So, the big question is why is this happening? I mean, in Kuwait, trends have come and trends have gone. Trends are transient things that weave in and out of Kuwaiti, daily life–usually without carrying more weight than the trends that came before them or after them. People either hop on the wagon or they don’t. And freaking fashion trends? Those suckers come a dime a dozen in Kuwait. Big-freakin’-deal.
But the turban isn’t just a fashion trend. In many cases, it can be considered a specifically ‘Islamic’ trend (because of its affiliation with the hijab). Even better: the turban is an Islamic trend with a twist. Its unconventionally Islamic. So unconventional in its Islamic-ness (I would say ‘Islamism’ but no) that even the most moderate, liberal Muslims are giving it a double-take. And, naturally, this can be a little troubling. Because the turban doesn’t fit the conservative mold of what a veiled woman is supposed to conventionally represent in the Arab world.
In the deeply conservative Arab dynamic, a part of a woman’s duty–and the thing which deems her ‘feminine’ and ‘right’– is to project a mixed aura of demure and modest prettiness. Sure, you’ve gotta look pretty but you can’t look kinda out there while you’re doing it. In this conservative sort of dynamic all the woman really has to do is to make herself look both modest and desirable (which, yes, can be a feat) and then just sit back and wait to be chosen.
The most glaringly obvious symbol of this kind of deep Arab conservatism is, unsurprisingly, the traditional hijab. I’m not saying that this is how all, or even most, traditionally veiled women operate, I’m just giving a quick overview of what a very deeply conservative idea of womanhood is to Arabs and what it means for an Arab woman to physically embody that.
You can agree or disagree with this dynamic, but you really can’t deny its validity all that much.
And on the flip-side, you’ve got the turban (popularized and oh so graciously modeled by tres-fableux, fashion-maven Ascia up there). I’ve heard religious zealots rail on about it; Holly Housewives; fashionably progressive women; full-grown men; children; even my 72 year old, housebound grandmother WHO ROCKED THE JACKIE-O LOOK IN HER DAY. Everyone has such a strong, and in many cases negative, reaction to the turban its crazy.
And yet all kinds of women are sporting it all over Kuwait. Only difference that I’ve been able to notice between these women and the other traditionally veiled but still totally awesome women is that the turban-wearers couldn’t give a flying dingbat about subscribing to any age-old ideas of Arab conservatism. I’m not saying that any woman who doesn’t wear a turban is a complete slave to patriarchal standards (well, I think all women are but whatevs). I’m just saying that the turban-wearers at least seem a lot more willing to step out of that comfort-zone and maybe try to create a fashion culture for Muslim women outside of the traditionally acceptable, ‘modestly pretty’ concept–even if they really are just following a trend.
And if you ask me, whether you like the turban or not, it sure sounds like a much more socially enhancing and culturally promising trend than this class-act right here.
All my love!
The turban’s popularity is based on two things. The first its representation of being an Islamic Hijab and second, the way its fashionable. Both can be understood in the context of Kuwait, which in contrast to other states is very liberal (open?) or what have you, and supposedly modern. Seeing as all religions are fluid in nature, the turban merely adopts the discourse of modern Islam, which is essentially distorted as the modern is placed in the context of the free market ideology or capitalism. It is is no way liberalizing and most who adopt it are ones who want both to maintain religious beliefs and too look good at the same time. Its an interesting trend, however, no way exemplifies a shift of patriarchy.
Much respect
Here’s the thing: I honestly don’t believe I know a single woman who is availed of all patriarchal, societal standards of beauty. No matter what she does (or doesn’t) wear on her head–all women conform and are tied down to the patriarchal structure in different ways and to various extents.
The turban is certainly not any kind of Muslim liberation symbol from the patriarchal pressure to look good and conform. I don’t believe it is and I didn’t say anything to the contrary.
But given the fact that it is causing such a ruckus among so many different points of view specifically because of the fact that it is asserting itself as a VERY non-traditional hijab (not always but mostly) in a society that usually precieves the concept of the hijab in a deeply conservative way is definitely causing a shift in culture.
So while it may not be the impetus for mass patriarchal upheaval, the turban is, at the very least, troubling the boundaries as to how far Muslim women can define their fashion culture for themselves without relying on patriarchal CONCEPTS like conservatism. Which is a very good step for all women even those who just don’t happen to fancy the way that the turban looks or don’t even wear the hijab at all.
Thank you for the super insightful comments though and for stirring the pot with a different perspective. Appreciate it! ;D
I completely agree, it does bring about a broader debate on the hijjab, I just worry that the debate is centered around the wrong things.
But is the turban another form of hijaab or is it simply a different way of covering your hair? Remember hijaab has religious connotations attached, it is linked with modesty, covering of the breast area & the neck, the turban does not do the latter two.
Hmm. Well, you may be right in the fact that the term ‘hijab’ means the covering of those areas of the body but ‘hijab’ does not necessarily have to mean a continuous peice of fabric to cover those areas. It just means they need to be covered period. And, well, I don’t know if I have ever seen a turban-wearing woman exposing her breasts and only on very few occasions have I seen the full neck exposed.
The type of hijab which you seem to be referring to is the traditional hijab which, dont get me wrong, is absolutely wonderful and beautiful but, based on those physical criteria for ‘hijab,’ is not the only option. To assume that it is would be an example of the conservatism I talked about in the post.
Thanks for commenting and adding to the conversation! ;D
I want to add a comment but i can only express it with arabic
Can you understand the arabic?
Of course!
تفضلي إختي 😉
There are people who honestly believe that hijab is simply covering your bosom but not your hair, which it totally fine with me as a traditional hijab-wearing person.
But there’s no such thing as “middle ground” between the traditional hijab and the “simply dress more conservatively than western women” hijab. This trend heavily reminds me of the mid-head hijab, or the Kubba (Ugh!). It’s just a fashion disaster as much as those trends (to me, at least), period.
It’s not like I’m against it because I have a caveman mentality, gasping in shock and disapproval in the background as turban wearers are flaunting this new and puzzling trend I don’t have the intelligence to grasp or understand. It just looks terribly silly and not well-done in most cases. The people who were still wearing turbans ’till this day are Sikhs, not Arabs. And I can’t get over the fact that it looks exactly like the hair towel I use to dry my hair when I take a bath.
I know that Kuwait is the land of the ever-changing trends but really, how many of those trends were actually any good?
You know, if I’m being honest, I’m not personally inclined to the look of the turban trend either. I mean, sure, Ascia totally rocks it but, just like the henna finger trend, I just don’t find myself fancying it all that much from a fashionable perspective. There are many trends which have come and gone that I have both personally enjoyed and others not so much. That’s just the way it is: some people hop on the wagon and others opt out because of various taste levels.
But the thing is that, as much as I am entitled to my opinion about how a trend looks, I can’t go around calling something like a hijab or a henna trend or an any other kind of trend anything less than what it is just because I don’t like it. The fact that so many women really are identifying with this trend as a definitive form of hijab makes it a hijab whether or not I or anyone else personally enjoys it from a fashionable perspective. To those women they’re not just dressing more conservatively than ‘western’ women. They’re actively expressing the way that they wear a hijab and, through the turban, they identify as Muslim, veiled women.
So yeah, I definitely don’t think that you’ve got a caveman mentality just because you think the turban is a fashion monstrosity. That’s your opinion and you are nothing if not completely entitled to the right to have this opinion and the complete right to share it honestly. But there is definitely an undeniable potential for a cultural shift in the way that women in Kuwait can or should look that the turban’s popularity brings with it–which is something that makes me very happy and optimistic–even if I don’t like the turban.
Thanks for commenting and sorry for the late-ish reply and all!