this file 1729 4642 1 PB
International Journal Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-din
Vol 18 No 1 (2016)
doI: 10.21580/ihya.17.1.1729
The Power headscarf:
emancipatory Possibilities of a New headscarf style for Young
dutch Muslim women
Laura Mora
Utrecht University, the Netherlands
E-mail: [email protected]
ABSTACT
he increasing number of Muslims in Europe gave rise to a hijaber phenomenon
that no longer fears to show a religious identity by using hijab. However,
conditions that are still less support actually positioned these hijabers in
situations that are less comfortable. Discriminatory treatment is still oten they
receive only because they are veiled, both rom family and rom the surrounding
environment, especially the rejection received by the converts. his rejection of
hijab is primarily due to the phenomenon of Islamophobia that infects almost
all countries in the world, including in Europe. his paper aims to capture
the discrimination and discriminatory treatment experienced by the hijabers
in the Netherlands as well as the real efort they are undertaking to respond
to this challenge, one of their eforts is to innovate models and creations of
hijab, so that hijab is no longer the reason for the treatment Discriminatory
against them.
Key Words: Hijaber; Model; Religious
aBsTAK
Meningkatnya jumlah pemeluk Islam di Eropa memunculkan fenomena
hijaber yang tidak lagi merasa takut untuk menunjukkan identitas
keberagamaan dengan menggunakan hijab. Namun, kondisi yang masih
kurang mendukung justru memposisikan para hijaber ini dalam situasi
yang kurang nyaman. Perlakuan yang diskriminatif masih sering mereka
terima hanya karena mereka berhijab, baik dari keluarga maupun dari
lingkungan sekitar, terutama penolakan yang diterima para muallaf.
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Laura Mora
Penolakan terhadap hijab ini terutama disebabkan oleh fenomena
islamopobia yang menjangkiti hampir seluruh negara di dunia, termasuk
di Eropa. Tulisan ini bertujuan untuk memotret penolakan dan perlakuan
diskriminatif yang dialami oleh para hijaber di Belanda serta usaha nyata
yang mereka lakukan untuk menjawab tantangan ini, salah satu usaha
yang mereka lakukan adalah dengan inovasi berbagai model dan kreasi
hijab, sehingga hijab tidak lagi menjadi alasan atas perlakuan diskriminatif
terhadap mereka.
Kata Kunci: Hijaber; Identitas; Model
a. Introduction
he headscarf is a controversial piece of clothing in the current
Dutch society, because in politics and media it symbolizes the tension
between the ‘oppressing’ Islam and the ‘free’ Netherlands (Moors, 2009:
195). In the light of this context, the phenomenon of the Dutch (converted)
Muslim woman that voluntarily chooses to wear the headscarf, as if she
chooses to become a foreigner (allochtoon), is remarkable (Nieuwkerk,
2004: 235). he decision to wear a headscarf is not easy, because it can
result in clashes with family, friends or at work. he stereotype images that
society has about veiled women, oten don’t correspond to the intentions,
aims and ideas with which a Muslim woman wears a headscarf.
he born and converted Muslim women in this thesis all voluntarily
chose to wear a headscarf or have this wish to do it in the future. A Muslim
woman can experience pressure to wear a headscarf or pressure not to wear
it. In this thesis I will mainly focus on the pressure against the headscarf
that is experienced in interactions with a non-Muslim environment,
family or work. his pressure can result in the procrastination of wearing
a headscarf, or a study/career switch, which could be experienced as
having limited options. In the family sphere a headscarf can be the cause
of emotional arguments between parents and daughter and even forced
eviction. Despite the possible risks, Dutch Muslim women continue to
choose to wear a headscarf with full conviction.
In this thesis, the focus is not on researching the causes of
discrimination of veiled Muslim women, but more on exploring the
broader possibilities that Muslim women can create to prevent or reduce
discrimination. By this, I don’t mean that Muslim women are responsible
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for their discrimination, but only that they have the agency to master
certain situations and inluence them positively. Dutch Muslim women
have all the tools within reach: knowledge about the Dutch culture, about
the Islamic theory, and as a result of that a Dutch practice of Islam.
From an Islamic point of view I’m interested in the discrepancy
between the broad space within Islamic theory for cultural expressions
like clothing, and the limited use that Western Muslims sometimes make
hereof. Converts oten chose automatically for a Turkish or Moroccan type
of headscarf, while at the same time stressing their Dutch identity and the
fact that Islam is not bound to merely Oriental cultures. he creation of a
unique Dutch Muslim identity, with a new headscarf style that contradicts
stereotypes about foreigners or Muslims, could possibly bridge that
discrepancy. For this reason, my research question is: In which ways can
a new headscarf style create emancipatory possibilities for young Muslim
women within Dutch society?
To answer this question I interviewed born and converted Muslim
women, and asked them for their motivations to wear a headscarf (in the
future) and which obstacles they experience(d). In the irst part of this
thesis I will analyze the relationship between the headscarf and Dutch
identity, the headscarf and acceptance of the family, and the headscarf
and career prospects (discrimination in the workplace). I will also ask the
women which solutions they came up with.
In the second part of this thesis I will argue that the existing
solutions of the Dutch Muslim women are not suicient and could be
much more creative and active (instead of reactive). Clothing is a language,
but the headscarf oten doesn’t communicate the message that a Muslim
woman wants to convey. To create a new headscarf concept, I will ask the
women what they would like to communicate with their headscarves.
he headscarf – and Islam in general – is not seen as a part of
Dutch culture in popular discourse. But Dutch Muslims, especially Dutch
converts, are both Dutch and Muslim and the living proof of this junction.
In contrary to the fact that Muslims have in fact become a part of Dutch
society, Dutch Muslims haven’t developed their own identity yet when
it comes to clothing – at least not as much as Indonesian Muslims for
example have their distinctive Islamic identity that difers from Arabic
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Laura Mora
Islamic identities. To ind out whether Dutch Muslim women are open to
developing their own identity, I asked what they think of the concept of ‘a
Dutch Islam’.
he last paragraph explains why fashion could be an efective
instrument to counter discrimination issues. It also explores which Islamic
fashion is known to Dutch Muslim women and whether they are willing to
experiment with fashion and creativity and their expectations of it.
his thesis is relevant for the understanding of the diverse ways
Muslims give shape to their daily practice as citizen of Dutch society. his
thesis shows that despite gender-based discrimination and Islamophobia,
the Dutch Muslim women that participated in the interviews feel that he
Netherlands is their country and want to contribute to their acceptance.
By broadening the deinition of ‘emancipation’ – by deining it as ‘using
knowledge and creativity in order to stay ahead of discrimination instead
of only batling it’ – the agency of Muslim women can be analyzed in a way
that is useful in the context of Islam and gender.
he most important literature forming my theoretical framework
comes from the disciplines of anthropology, (political) philosophy and
gender studies. he theorists all have a speciic vision on discrimination,
emancipation, feminism, Islam in the West and conversion to Islam. hese
theories helped to deconstruct the stereotype image of Muslim women
as victims of their religion and men, and supported my vision of Muslim
women as self-assured women with agency and ambitions for their faith,
social relationships and careers. I do however believe that, based on a
positive feminist atitude, Muslim women can ight injustice more actively
and more creatively.
In this thesis there is no space for a literature study of the principle
Islamic scriptures like the Qoran and hadith, and thereby comes the fact
that it is not within my ield to study religious texts. However, basic Islamic
principles are important for this thesis to the extent that it is important for
Muslim women themselves. Whenever we explore new headscarf styles, it
has to match the Islamic criteria of body covering, because these women
would otherwise not accept the proposal.
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B. discussion and result
1. Intersectionality
In the beginning of the 1992s Kimberlé Crenshaw introduced the
term ‘intersectionality’ in the Gender Studies (1991). Intersectionality is
a way of analyzing discrimination and identity construction, by taking into
account diferent elements of identity and seeing them as inluencing each
other. A discrimination case is oten looked at from the angle of just one
element, such as gender. But intersectionality theory argues that gender
can’t be seen separately from ethnicity, nationality, class, religion, age,
sexuality, profession etc (Botman, 2001).
When young girls (convert and) wear a headscarf, it doesn’t only
afect the aspect of religious identity, but also other aspects like ethnicity,
profession, class and sexuality. Gloria Wekker explains that these aspects
can determine someone’s position in public life and the expectations
people have (Botman et al, 2001). he headscarf cannot be seen separately
from being a woman, being Muslim, being young and having ambitions
in life. Sexuality also implicitly plays a role because the headscarf is worn
oten to keep sexual beauty private to oneself. Class plays a role when
the headscarf leads to the perception of a woman from belonging to the
dominant culture (without headscarf) to being a second-class citizen.
2. feminism
Intersectional theory makes clear that we are not only just women,
oppressed by men. We can also be blacks, oppressed by whites. Each of
us has a diferent notion of emancipation, which may difer from the ideal
of certain Western non-Muslim feminists. Emancipation and integration
issues are not mutually exclusive (htp://www.e-quality.nl/e-quality/
pagina.asp?pagkey=42259&), and Muslim women should get their own
position within feminism. Jasmin Zine found that Muslim women in
political and feminist arena are oten represented as oppressed victims
who should be liberated and modernized ( Jasmin Zine, 2008). Although
I see my target group not as oppressed victims, I take their experiences
of discrimination very seriously, and I explore a solution that is desirable
for them.
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Laura Mora
In her recent study ‘Feminism in Multicultural Societies: An
analysis of Dutch Multicultural and Postsecular Developments and their
Implications for Feminist Debates’, Eva Midden argues that feminism
should be more inclusive, rather than excluding certain women (Eva,
2010: 240). he emancipation of Muslim women with headscarves I
therefore see as a part of feminism. Midden also states that emancipation
means more to Muslim women than having the same career opportunities
as men. Emancipation is for them the freedom to make their own choices
but also taking into account their faith and the demands of family and
friends (2010: 239). Exploring possibilities for ighting unjust situations
of Muslim women’s lives is not just a feminist duty, but also an Islamic
one. In Islam men and women are worth exactly the same, and women
have the responsibility to develop themselves and improve their position
in society.
3. countering discrimination
he discrimination of women wearing headscarves is a structural
and ideological problem, based on very old ideas, but also ideas that
are created every day again and again, reinforced and put into practice.
Philomena Essed brought this everyday racism to light (Essed, 1990: 2).
She argued that the meaning of racism is not only the extreme (violent)
cases, but also the more subtle things that happen every day. For example,
when a woman with headscarf is being asked if she masters the Dutch
language, it can be seen as every day racism.
Because the ight against discrimination is not inished overnight,
it is important that Muslim women don’t get discouraged or accept
discrimination. Muslim women cannot be blamed for their discrimination
but it is possible for them to take responsibility and make the choice to
wear the headscarf easier by taking action instead of only reacting. Saba
Mahmood’s deinition of agency describes this atitude: agency is not an
opposition or struggle against the environment, but an opportunity to
take action (Mahmood, 2001: 220).
I base this on Rosi Braidoti’s concept of airmative ethics: this
theory assumes that every negative situation can be transformed into
a positive situation. It does not allow people to be defeated by strong
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emotions as a result of discrimination, but it wants people to become
active, move and evolve through these experiences. In other words, it
«puts the motion back into emotion» (Braidoti, 2006: 235-254).
4. converts
Karin van Nieuwkerk wrote in her research “Veils and wooden
clogs do not go together: female converts and the construction of Dutch
national identity” that the construction of Dutch identity is based on the
Islam as the ultimate Other. he concept is framed in this way: the Dutch
woman is progressive and liberated, contrary to the backward Muslim
woman. When a Dutch woman starts to wear a headscarf, she won’t be
seen any longer as Dutch. A headscarf and wooden clogs are framed as two
mutual exclusive things, whereby wooden clogs symbolize Dutch identity
(Nieuwkerk: 245).
Vanessa Vroon-Najem analyzed the way Dutch converts use
their capacity to act to change their lives, and describes this in her article
«Pushing the limits of Dutchness: agency and change in the context of
female conversion to Islam». Vroon counters the dominant view of the
Muslima as oppressed by her religion, by showing that converts borrow
empowering values from their religion that contribute to their agency.
5. dutch Islam
he inspiration for the concept of a ‘Dutch Islam’ comes from
Bassam Tibi who introduces the concept of a Euro-Islam. He wanted to
inspire Muslims to integrate in European societies by stressing the binding
factor of citizenship and belonging to Europe. Tariq Ramadan’s vision of a
Euro-Islam also appeals to me because he inspires Muslims to examine their
own faith (the text) and take into account their context (Bechler, 2004: 2).
He stressed that Muslims should not base their religious experiences on a
clash with the culture in which they live, but have to use their freedom to
take the good from it. Bridges can only be built when Muslims adopt this
atitude (Bechler: 3).
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Laura Mora
6. Islamic fashion
Annelies Moors has studied the phenomenon of Islamic fashion.
Her article “Islamic Fashion in Europe: religious conviction, aesthetic style,
and creative consumption” shows that Muslim women in he Netherlands
are interested in fashion and that they want to convey messages with their
clothes. Moors has found that Muslim women are very aware of the fact that
their headscarf communicates certain things to other people (Moors, 2009:
196). Following this, I examined the discrepancy between the message
Muslim women want to convey and what they actually communicate to
their non-Muslim surroundings, or more speciically, their ideas on how
others perceive them.
7. Internal and external clashes
a. Motivations and obstacles
An open question about the motivations of the interviewed Dutch
Muslim women to wear the headscarf or procrastinate it, brought some
clashes to light. Eva Midden mentioned in a recent survey four main
reasons for Muslim women to wear a headscarf: resistance, religion, identity
and family/community (Eva Midden, 2010: 152-153). I’m curious which
reasons my interviewees themselves mention, because it illustrates their
consideration of barriers on one side and motivations on the other side.
Motivations Of all the interviewees, nine women wear a headscarf
(of which one born Muslim), some since several months and some
since several years. he other fourteen people don’t wear a headscarf
permanently, but say they wish to do so in the future. heir motivations are
roughly divided into four categories. Half of the girls mention as a reason
that the headscarf is part of Islam and it is mandatory. Other motivations
are: keeping their feminine beauty private, showing their Muslim identity,
and because they feel comfortable with it.
Obstacles he fourteen people that don’t wear a headscarf don’t
see the possibility to do it, as it will trouble their relationship with family
and work. Interviewees who already wear a headscarf also experience
diiculties or experienced this in the past. he large majority of the women
said that it is diicult to wear it because people see it as not belonging to
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the Dutch culture. A second reason is the opinion of family and friends,
which is actually related to the irst.
b. dutch identity
Since the 1950s Islam became visible in he Netherlands, when
immigrants from mainly Suriname and Indonesia and later Morocco
and Turkey came to the Netherlands for diferent reasons. Islam is oten
regarded as an Eastern/Oriental religion, the religion of the immigrants.
Moreover, as the religion of the minorities that do not integrate well into
society, precisely because Islam is supposedly incompatible with Dutch
norms and values (Nieuwkerk : 233).
Converts seem to have an impossible task to combine their
headscarves with their Dutch identity, because they are no longer
considered Dutch when wearing a headscarf (Vroon-Najem, 2007: 19).
In this section, I examine how the headscarf relates to their Dutch identity,
and what the headscarf means for their position as women, as Muslims and
as Dutch citizens in this society.
An interesting discrepancy comes to light: when a Dutch Muslim
woman wears a headscarf, she notes that the non-Muslim environment
no longer perceives her as a ‘real’ Dutch. She changes her faith and her
appearance, but simultaneously this puts her in another box connected
to images of ethnicity, class, profession, atitude, education etc (Moors,
2009: 192). he automatic linking of the headscarf with a foreign culture
and stereotyping hereof is racist and sexist (Nieuwkerk: 229), and not only
born Muslims but also converted Muslims will be afected by this (VroonNajem, 2007: 22). More than half of respondents actually experienced that
they aren’t considered ‘real’ Dutch anymore with headscarf.
In short, the Dutch non-Muslim environment puts the convert with
headscarf in a particular box of foreign ethnicity, while the Muslim woman
merely sees her headscarf as part of her religion. In addition, the Muslim
woman chooses a particular box of ethnicity herself when preference is
given explicitly to a Moroccan style, and no alternatives are developed that
have a Dutch connotation. Because converts realize this, they anticipate to
prejudices which will make the choice for a headscarf harder.
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Prejudices about the headscarf contribute to the stereotyping of
the Muslim woman as the ultimate opposite of Dutch people. Jasmin Zine
called it ‘the oppressed Muslim woman paradigm’ (Zine: 13) and mentions
the backwardness that is atributed to Muslim women. In contrary, Dutch
women are represented in Dutch discourse as emancipated and capable.
Wearing a headscarf oten means that women lose certain privileges
that were taken for granted before, because their (blond) hair is no longer
visible in public space. Or, in the case of born Muslims and converts from
migrant backgrounds, the chance to discrimination increases as their
religion becomes visible: they can be discriminated not only for racist
reasons but also Islamophobic reasons. his is experienced as disturbing,
since these women do regard themselves as Dutch, and because they are
expected to speak poor Dutch, to be of a lower class and non-modern.
his puts pressure on Muslim women to prove they are true Dutch women
too, and as much capable and emancipated. hey want to be considered as
equals instead of inferiors.
However, Muslim women feel the responsibility to counter these
stereotypes by fulilling a role as ambassador of Islam, and function
as a bridge between Muslims and non-Muslims, or ethnic Dutch and
‘foreigners’). his means half of the women ind it important to have an
accessible physical appearance. Others ind it less important because they
want to let their personality speak in countering stereotypes and building
bridges. However, since the veiled Muslima is oten not seen as ‘real’
Dutch, building bridges can be a diicult task. Because the headscarf oten
forms a physical barrier, one has to prove herself more through personality
(conversations, behavior, etc.). his puts great pressure on them, since they
feel they have to always act representational (or keeping up appearances),
while they are also merely human beings with shortcomings.
c. acceptance by family
he second obstacle to wear a headscarf is related to parents’
opinion about the headscarf. he American convert Nicole Queen, known
for her fashion statements, explains this in an interview:
”Wearing hijab is a huge decision for anyone, especially for a convert. his
is something that no one in our community or family ever wears, or even
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understands. It’s a public display to everyone you know past and present,
that you have converted to Islam and are devoted to it.”
his section examines the struggles parents have with the headscarf,
which emotions or events are related to this, which role this plays in the
decision to wear a headscarf, and whether (convert) women understand
the opinion of their parents.
Two-thirds of the veiled interviewees say their parents - albeit with
diiculty - accept that their daughter wear a headscarf, even though they
ind it ugly, incomprehensible, or they just hide their true opinion. Half of
the non-veiled women expect their parents to accept it when they take this
step in the future, even though they would like to do everything in their
power to try to prevent them from doing so.
One third of the veiled women said their parents didn’t accept the
headscarf, and half of the girls who are planning on wearing one also expect
objections from their parents. Many parents do not accept the headscarf as
long as their daughter lives at home, but when their daughter lives on her
own they cannot forbid it.
he result is that the choice of the headscarf is accompanied by
strong emotions of both converts and their parents, and that the relationship
possibly gets troubled. For some women this is the main reason not to wear
it, or wait till they move out to live on their own. Convert understands
that her parents have issues with the headscarf, and therefore she takes it
of when she visits them on weekends. As a result she feels she is forced
to live a double life. Even though the women understand the opinion of
their parents, they ind it unjust. here must come a solution to make this
process smoother: a sort of compromise or temporary solution.
d. discrimination and career
he previous section showed that for example the parents are
concerned about their daughters’ career prospects. I’m wondering if these
concerns – not the prejudices – are grounded some reality. he following
text is a website for employers, Recruitment and Selection Guide, an online
guide for equal treatment in recruitment, job interviews and selection.
Mariete Hermans states in an article commissioned by E-quality
that many employers indeed rely on the alleged lack of representativeness
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Laura Mora
when rejecting a veiled Muslim woman (Hermans, 2002). Women who
are rejected because of their headscarves, are discriminated against on
the basis of their gender and religion simultaneously (intersectional). he
article continues:
“he LBR concludes that this form of discrimination has major
implications for Muslim women. hey avoid certain professions or ields
of work because they have litle chance inding a job or they become
discouraged to even work at all.”
For the Muslim women I have interviewed, discrimination in
the workplace is a current problem. In section 3.1 (Motivations and
obstacles) it became clear that the headscarf isn’t easy to combine with a
career. he closed questions about this topic, showed that all respondents
aspire a career (whether or not at the top). However, three-quarters of the
respondents said they either experienced discrimination in the workplace
on the basis of the headscarf, or expect to be discriminated in their
future careers.
Half of the respondents will accept a rejection or concession in the
future, because; this is reality, sometimes there is no choice, she chooses
herself for a headscarf, because it is too painful to hear a ‘no’ as an answer,
there are plenty of other options, God will provide for a beter job, and
because you have to keep on trying.
Every Dutch Muslima deals with the combination of scarf and
career in her own way. In this section I want to take a closer look at some of
the examples. I am particularly interested in the question whether future
plans change because of the headscarf, what ways are found to circumvent
discrimination and the role that career plans have in wearing a headscarf.
8. concessions to the headscarf
Some Muslim women can’t circumvent discrimination, or work
in an industry that doesn’t accept headscarves. Muslima # 15 studies
Marketing and Communication, and does her internship in high fashion.
Headscarves are barely present in the Western fashion world, and are
generally not accepted in representative positions. Because her career is so
important to her, she decided to ignore her wish for a headscarf.
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It is sad that discrimination is such an issue that Muslim women
oten have to choose between wearing a headscarf and pursuing their
dream career. It would give these Muslim women more freedom of
choice and equality in opportunity, when the headscarf is not a threat to
their professions.
9. concessions to future career plans
Most interviewees that want to wear a headscarf change their future
plans because of (expected) discrimination: convert changed her study
from Hairdressing to Social Pedagogical Work. Other convert now studies
Communication instead of going to the Fashion Academy. he other one
probably has to quit her job in security when she will wear a headscarf.
he atitude of the converted medical student is the most common
one: she expects to be faced with discrimination, but she accepts rejections.
She would just try to apply for a job somewhere else, because she wouldn’t
want to work at a discriminative place anyway. She also trusts in God,
and she is conident that she can overcome possible conlicts about the
headscarf and that it won’t disadvantage her at the end.
10. enhancing acceptance
Eighteen women, of which seven veiled, said that they ind the
acceptance of their headscarves important. It difers whether they think
it is important that only close relatives accept it or also the people at their
work. Some women however ind acceptance irrelevant, since they have
to be comfortable with it themselves and it is not so much other people’s
business. But the majority thinks acceptance makes life easier in general
and gives the opportunity for people to see her as a human being instead of
reducing her to her headscarf.
A total of sixteen Muslim women, including six with headscarf,
wish to have a positive impact by their behavior. Or in other words, by
participating in society and «by being what Islam requires of us, which
is to be good for others, then they will understand that the headscarf is
not a negative thing, but just a headscarf.» he fact that so many women
feel this responsibility, is explained by Annelies Moors in her research
about Islamic fashion. Because veiled women are instantly recognizable
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Laura Mora
as Muslims, they feel a responsibility to disprove stereotypes and leave a
positive impression. his is even stronger in the public space or at work
(Moors, 2009: 195).
By far the fewest people indicated that they want to leave a positive
impact by their dresses or style of headscarf. his doesn’t necessarily
mean that they don’t adjust their clothes to the ideas of non-Muslims –
because the data show they care – but it says something about the degree
of importance to them. he most important instrument is their behavior,
then dialogue, and only then comes the style of clothing and headscarf.
But the women admit that their strategies are not always efective enough,
and they are open to inding new solutions.
11. New headscarf style
Muslim women can expand their agency, what they would like to
communicate with their headscarves, why fashion is a good instrument to
be one step ahead of discrimination, and how a new scarf style can help
create a unique identity and reduce (internal) clashes.
12. agency
Several organizations have tried to counter everyday racism of
veiled women, by challenging prejudices. Examples of such organizations
are Stichting Ontsluiert (Foundation Uncovers)5 and Al Nisa, founded in
1982 by Dutch convert women.6 In 2010, Al Nisa held a successful poster
campaign, called ‘Echt Nederlands’ (Truly Dutch), with the aim to show
the diversity among Muslim women and their Dutch identity, as a playful
counterbalance to the prejudiced political debates in he Netherlands
Discrimination that manifests itself every day, in all kinds of
situations, cannot be contested successfully overnight. hat’s because we
are all actors in a complex power structure (Essed, 1990: viii). It would
be destructive when Muslim women see themselves as passive victims,
and fortunately my interviewees don’t. hey have in fact shown to possess
a particular kind of agency (capacity to act) and also like to use that to
improve their position in society. But not through clash or rude struggle:
they feel responsible to manage the choice for their headscarf as smoothly
as possible. his is the deinition of agency that Saba Mahmood uses:
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agency is not an opposition or struggle, but an opportunity to take action
(Mahmood: 220).
Ater researching Egyptian Muslim women, Mahmood developed
an interesting deinition of agency: «the capacity to realize one’s own
interests against the weight of custom, tradition, transcendental will, or
other obstacles (whether individual or collective)». My interviewees only
partly live up to this deinition: on the one hand they deliberately chose
to go against their culture by wearing a headscarf, on the other hand they
can’t achieve some goals because of discrimination and have to become
more active and creative to overcome obstacles.
he Muslima doesn’t have – like anyone else – the power to change
her surroundings but she does have control over her own headscarf: not
only the choice to wear it, but also the choice how she wears it. I believe
that the Muslima can limit the degree of discrimination by developing
a new style. According to Braidoti’s airmative action this could even
transform negative situations into positive situations (Braidoti, 2006:
235-254). With the power headscarf, the Dutch Muslima can pursue
her goals and aspirations. A Muslima who seems to break with all the
stereotypes, internal and external, so that she can be herself while her
social environment accepts it and while she doesn’t experience that many
barriers anymore in the workplace. A scarf that enables her to be a Muslim
and an equal Dutch citizen, instead of being othered.
13. appearance
Clothes form a language, and a headscarf communicates certain
things. he ‘problem’ with the conventional headscarf is that the message
of the headscarf is oten diferently received by non-Muslims than how
it is intended by the Muslima. In this world it’s all about the looks, but
the Muslim women want to show that it is the inside that counts. But the
discrimination she faces is based on her appearance, so she cannot ignore
that outside. he conventional headscarf sometimes closes doors for her.
If the Muslima is ambitious and feels responsible as a bridge-builder in
society, it is important that she keeps some doors open, as many as possible.
She can change her appearance in some situations, just to give her inner
personality a chance to speak. his can be achieved with a completely new,
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Laura Mora
surprising and creative scarf style, that communicates other things than
the standard headscarf.
his is not at all about a headscarf style that is less covering
or ignores Islamic principles. It is about creating a look that is closer to
Dutch culture and not per deinition Oriental. his can be achieved for
example by using head covering as known in Western history. Or by using
objects that don’t derived directly from the scarf (like hats, hoodies, caps
and rules) and combining it with Western modern clothing that covers
the neck and bosom (turtlenecks, tunics, blouses, blazers, shawls). A scarf
with new connotations, which communicates what the Muslima wants to
communicate herself. To explore what message women want to convey
I asked them several questions about their self-image and the image that
others of them might have.
14. Prejudices
Nearly all Muslim women see themselves as an independent
emancipated woman, because of free upraising, their character, education,
self-determined atitude, independent living, and women’s rights in Islam.
Only four women think that others (non-Muslims) also see them in this
same way. However, eleven women think that non-Muslims see them in a
very diferent way: oppressed, poorly educated, and not as strong woman.
his discrepancy is a source of discrimination of these women. It is easier to
wear a headscarf when non-Muslims would perceive them as emancipated
as without.
Half of the interviewees think a new scarf style doesn’t make a
diference, because ‘a headscarf remains a headscarf ’ and people will not
see the diference between the diferent styles. he other half however
thinks a new style does have an impact on how people perceive them,
precisely because of the power of fashion and clothing in terms of social
acceptance. It is the religious, political, economic, ethnic etc. connotation
of the headscarf that gives rise to tensions between Muslims and nonMuslims. he aesthetics and variety of colors and shapes can afect the
appearance of a Muslima positively in a total diferent way.
Aesthetics Annelies Moors explains that the acceptance of Muslim
women by the general public is oten linked to the aesthetic content of the
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Islamic dress (Moors:197). he more beautiful the dress or the headscarf,
the sooner it is accepted. Most Muslim women ind themselves beautiful
with a headscarf, but their non-Muslim environment oten inds it ugly or
a shame that they don’t show their beauty.
Within feminism and the Islamic cultures it is rather controversial
to use clothes or beautify yourself in order to gain acceptance. On the other
hand, it may beneit someone to rethink the concept of one’s clothes.
Nine interviewees experienced situations in which non-Muslims
found their headscarves beautiful. Especially when they used lighter colors,
lower prints and accessories.
15. Unique dutch Muslim identity
As more and more Dutch women accept Islam as their religion, and
more and more ‘born’ Muslims who feel truly Dutch, it might be a good
thing to invest in the development of a unique Dutch Muslim identity.
Islam is a part of the Netherlands, and shouldn’t be seen any longer as
something alien to he Netherlands (Tibi, 2007: 99-100).
In he Netherlands, Muslims form a minority that are generally
of ‘foreign’ ethnic origins and migrated to he Netherlands for economic
or political reasons. Because of certain integration issues and political
debates about Muslims as a group, being a ‘Muslim’ became synonym for
‘immigrant’ and vice versa. Because the minority group is reduced to their
religion in public debate, there is this tendency among born Muslims: they
themselves start to link their Muslim identity to their ethnic background
(Bassam Tibi: 93). Some of them feel more conident as Muslims when
they base their identity on anything that is non-Western, and reject
anything that is related to Western culture (Bechler, 2004: 3). A ‘Western’
scarf style would feel like a loss of Islamic identity for persons with that
mentality.
It is however strange that some Dutch converts copy this atitude,
as they choose only a new religion and not a new ethnicity. It is actually
very important to combine religious practices with one’s own cultural
background. his doesn’t only beneit Dutch society in general, but also
the convert herself for psychological reasons.
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16. Islamic criteria
he concept of a Dutch Islam is not about changing the religion
or its rules. Within Islam there is space for people to give shape to their
religious practices in a personal way. he Islamic concept of adab includes
etiquete (greeting, showing respect, etc.) and dress codes, based on the
Qur’an and Sunnah (way of life of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be
upon him). 8 his can be combined with the adat: cultural conventions,
social norms (clothing) and customs. Traditions and customs can either
contribute to Islamic practice, oppose it or be neutral.
In Islam, clothes are meant to cover the body and protect the body
and honor. he Islamic dress code for the hijab (headscarf) is bound to
certain criteria: according to most Sunni schools of thought a woman
should cover her entire body except her hands and face, the clothes should
not be transparent or that tight that it follows the lines of her body, she
should cover for men who are not immediate family. In addition, it is not
allowed to wear clothes to show of (out of arrogance) or to seduce people.
But within these criteria, details are not mentioned: it is allowed to use
diferent fabrics, colors, models, layers, accessories etc. his depends on
the context, cultures, religious interpretations and personal preferences.
Nearly all women think an Arabic style is not mandatory, as long as
the criteria are met. It is important for the women that the headscarf covers
suiciently, is recognizable Islamic, but not Eastern perse. “You have to be
very creative.» Whether the Dutch Muslim women are open to creativity
is examined in the following paragraphs.
17. fashion
Fashion has a materialistic, capitalistic, commercial and disciplinary
side, but also an artistic, expressive, creative and uniting character. Fashion
has the power to break all expectations and stereotypes by creating new
concepts. he deinition of creativity is: ‘thinking about a problem and
solving it in a surprising way’ (Santagata, 2002: 6). Fashion designers have
knowledge about people’s behaviors and expectations, and play with that
to surprise people.
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Creative designers like Rabia Z (Dubai), the designers of Noor
D*Izar (Belgium), and Zleqha (Malaysia) have tried to give the headscarf
a new twist. heir motives to design new headscarves are based on the
assumption that like any other garment the headscarf is a symbol, and
symbols afect people’s behavior and their reactions. Symbols reinforce
common values, and the feeling of belonging to a community (Santagata,
2002: 18).
18. atitude
Among certain groups of Muslims fashion and beauty are
considered a taboo, or is considered to be incompatible with religion. I
asked my respondents what they think of fashion: nearly all women
(twenty, seven with headscarf) have a positive opinion. hirteen women
think fashion is compatible with being Muslim, and the other ten women
say it depends on the intentions someone has.
Not only Muslim women’s outlook on fashion, but also their
behavior in terms of dress is important to analyze. his will show whether
Muslim women are open to change their styles and try new ways of
covering. I asked whether they are sensitive to the taste of their non-Muslim
environments and adjust their clothes to it: almost all women conirmed.
However, these women are more familiar with Dutch fashion
rather than to draw inspiration from the Islamic Fashion catwalks in Dubai,
Musqat and Malaysia. But there are also many women who never heard of
Islamic catwalks. Islamic fashion is not really commonly known among the
Dutch Muslim women, but they are certainly interested to see more of it.
he major obstacle in choosing for the headscarf is the reactions
that non-Muslims will give. A new style headscarf counters certain
stereotypes and evokes positive reactions (and thus is expected to provide
less discrimination), so it may be easier to choose the headscarf.
A new style headscarf would have an emancipating potential in
that sense, because a Muslim woman feels more freedom to express her
identity, while at the same time developing on a personal/social level and
in her career.
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Laura Mora
If necessary, the new style can be worn temporarily or only in
certain environments such as the workplace, so that the transition from
a non-veiled to a veiled woman is less confrontational. It gives a convert’s
family some time to get used to it, ater which she might decide to switch to
a more Arabic style of wearing the scarf. A beautiful, unique headscarf has
the potential to win hearts, evoke positive feedback, facilitate ambitions
and courage (Santagata, 2002: 16), instead of fears and discrimination.
Dutch Muslim women can easily achieve their goals this way, because their
headscarf is one step ahead of discrimination. his gives them more agency
and control: the power headscarf.
c. conclusion
he efects of discrimination of veiled women are noticeable in
everyday situations, which complicates the choice to wear a headscarf.
Discrimination is based on negative stereotypes about Islam and gender,
and the headscarf is the ultimate symbol for everything that is ‘allochtoon’
(foreign): oppressed and backward. Because Muslim women haven’t fully
developed their own Dutch Muslim identity, they oten automatically
choose to wear an eastern-looking headscarf, instead of a creating a
Dutch one. Since the Islamic doctrine gives space to a range of cultural
expressions like fashion styles, Muslim women could expand their agency
and inluence situations positively by using a new headscarf style, leading
to more opportunities and empowerment.
When a new style headscarf can be developed that is less ‘Other’
and is more in line with Dutch aesthetics, it might debunk stereotypes
and invoke positive reactions. Perhaps this headscarf has the potential to
reduce the clashes with Dutch culture, parents and career plans, because
it emphasizes aesthetics (instead of the religious, political and ethnic
connotation) and communicates what Muslim women wish: Muslim,
Dutch, emancipated, equal/digniied, modern and educated. Such a
headscarf let her personality and professionalism speak and could ensure
that most doors remain open and, instead of her being deined a priori in
terms that suggest a headscarf turns a woman into an inferior citizen of
he Netherlands.
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When Muslim women choose to wear a headscarf, this oten
creates tensions between her and her parents or she changes her future
plans. Current solutions such as explaining her faith and wish for a
headscarf to people are not suicient, because in most cases this is
reactive instead of preemptive. By creating a new Dutch headscarf that
causes reduction of cultural tensions, Muslim women could be one step
ahead of discrimination. With a high dose of creativity and willingness to
experiment, a new style headscarf ofers emancipatory perspectives for
young Dutch Muslim women. Muslim women stay closer to their own
cultural background, relationship with parents will be less disturbed and
the choices in terms of career be enhanced by the ‘power’ headscarf.
Volume 18, Number 1 (2016)
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Laura Mora
BIBLIoGAPhY
Bechler, Rosemary. “A bridge across fear: an interview with Tariq
Ramadan.” www.opendemocracy.net 15 July 2004: 1-6.
Botman, M., N. Jouwe en G. Wekker. Caleidoscopische Visies, De zwarte,
migranten- en vluchtelingen- vrouwenbeweging in Nederland.
Amsterdam: Kit Uitgeverij, 2001.
Braidoti, Rosi. “Airmation versus vulnerability: on contemporary ethical
debates.” Symposium: Canadian Journal of Continental Philosophy,
vol. 10, no. 1. 2006, 235-254 (1-20).
Crenshaw, Kimberlé. 1991. “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality,
Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color.” Stanford
Law Review 43, 1241-1279.
Essed, Philomena. Everyday Racism. Reports rom women of two cultures.
Hunter House, 1990.
Hermans, Mariëte. “Intersectionaliteit: een uitnodiging tot inclusief
denken over gender, etniciteit, discriminatie en beeldvorming.”
E-quality, ACI: 2002.
Hinterberger, Amy. “Feminism and the Politics of Representation:
Towards a Critical and Ethical Encounter with “Others”.” Journal of
International Women’s Studies, Vol. 8, no. 2. February 2007: 74-83.
Mahmood, Saba. “Feminist heory, Embodiment, and the Docile Agent:
Some Relections on the Egyptian Islamic Revival.” Cultural
Anthropology, Vol. 16, no. 2. 2001: 202-236
Midden, Eva. “Feminism in Multicultral Societies: An analysis of Dutch
Multicultural and Postsecular Developments and their Implications
for Feminist Debates.” PhD theses University of Central Lancashire,
May 2010: 1-268.
Moors, Annelies. “Islamic Fashion in Europe: Religious Conviction,
Aesthetic Style, and Creative Consumption.” Encounters Vol. 1, no.
1. 2009: 175-201.
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he Power Headscarf:
Nieuwkerk, Karin van. “Veils and wooden clogs don’t go together.” Ethnos,
Vol. 69, no. 2. 2004:229-246.
Santagata, Walter. “Creativity, Fashion and Market Behavior.” Turijn: Ebla
Center, Working Paper, No.5/2002: 1-20.
Tibi, Bassam. “Euro-Islamic Religious Plurilism for Europe: an Alternative
to Ethnicity and to Multiculturalism of Fear.” he Current, Vol. 11,
no. 1, Fall 2007: 89-103.
Vroon-Najem, Vanessa. “Pushing the Limits of Dutchness: Agency and
Change in the Context of Female Conversion to Islam.” Master
hesis VU Amsterdam, 2007.
Wekker, Gloria. Lezing bij Boekpresentatie ‘Caleidoscopische Visies’.
15 maart 2221. htp://www.e-quality.nl/e-quality/pagina.
asp?pagkey=42259&
Wolpute, Steven Van. “Hang on to Your Self: Of Bodies, Embodiment,
and Selves.” he Annual Review of Anthropology, 33: 251-269.
Zine, Jasmin. “Muslim Women and the Politics of Representation.” he
American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, Vol. 19, no. 4, 2008.
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Vol 18 No 1 (2016)
doI: 10.21580/ihya.17.1.1729
The Power headscarf:
emancipatory Possibilities of a New headscarf style for Young
dutch Muslim women
Laura Mora
Utrecht University, the Netherlands
E-mail: [email protected]
ABSTACT
he increasing number of Muslims in Europe gave rise to a hijaber phenomenon
that no longer fears to show a religious identity by using hijab. However,
conditions that are still less support actually positioned these hijabers in
situations that are less comfortable. Discriminatory treatment is still oten they
receive only because they are veiled, both rom family and rom the surrounding
environment, especially the rejection received by the converts. his rejection of
hijab is primarily due to the phenomenon of Islamophobia that infects almost
all countries in the world, including in Europe. his paper aims to capture
the discrimination and discriminatory treatment experienced by the hijabers
in the Netherlands as well as the real efort they are undertaking to respond
to this challenge, one of their eforts is to innovate models and creations of
hijab, so that hijab is no longer the reason for the treatment Discriminatory
against them.
Key Words: Hijaber; Model; Religious
aBsTAK
Meningkatnya jumlah pemeluk Islam di Eropa memunculkan fenomena
hijaber yang tidak lagi merasa takut untuk menunjukkan identitas
keberagamaan dengan menggunakan hijab. Namun, kondisi yang masih
kurang mendukung justru memposisikan para hijaber ini dalam situasi
yang kurang nyaman. Perlakuan yang diskriminatif masih sering mereka
terima hanya karena mereka berhijab, baik dari keluarga maupun dari
lingkungan sekitar, terutama penolakan yang diterima para muallaf.
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Laura Mora
Penolakan terhadap hijab ini terutama disebabkan oleh fenomena
islamopobia yang menjangkiti hampir seluruh negara di dunia, termasuk
di Eropa. Tulisan ini bertujuan untuk memotret penolakan dan perlakuan
diskriminatif yang dialami oleh para hijaber di Belanda serta usaha nyata
yang mereka lakukan untuk menjawab tantangan ini, salah satu usaha
yang mereka lakukan adalah dengan inovasi berbagai model dan kreasi
hijab, sehingga hijab tidak lagi menjadi alasan atas perlakuan diskriminatif
terhadap mereka.
Kata Kunci: Hijaber; Identitas; Model
a. Introduction
he headscarf is a controversial piece of clothing in the current
Dutch society, because in politics and media it symbolizes the tension
between the ‘oppressing’ Islam and the ‘free’ Netherlands (Moors, 2009:
195). In the light of this context, the phenomenon of the Dutch (converted)
Muslim woman that voluntarily chooses to wear the headscarf, as if she
chooses to become a foreigner (allochtoon), is remarkable (Nieuwkerk,
2004: 235). he decision to wear a headscarf is not easy, because it can
result in clashes with family, friends or at work. he stereotype images that
society has about veiled women, oten don’t correspond to the intentions,
aims and ideas with which a Muslim woman wears a headscarf.
he born and converted Muslim women in this thesis all voluntarily
chose to wear a headscarf or have this wish to do it in the future. A Muslim
woman can experience pressure to wear a headscarf or pressure not to wear
it. In this thesis I will mainly focus on the pressure against the headscarf
that is experienced in interactions with a non-Muslim environment,
family or work. his pressure can result in the procrastination of wearing
a headscarf, or a study/career switch, which could be experienced as
having limited options. In the family sphere a headscarf can be the cause
of emotional arguments between parents and daughter and even forced
eviction. Despite the possible risks, Dutch Muslim women continue to
choose to wear a headscarf with full conviction.
In this thesis, the focus is not on researching the causes of
discrimination of veiled Muslim women, but more on exploring the
broader possibilities that Muslim women can create to prevent or reduce
discrimination. By this, I don’t mean that Muslim women are responsible
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for their discrimination, but only that they have the agency to master
certain situations and inluence them positively. Dutch Muslim women
have all the tools within reach: knowledge about the Dutch culture, about
the Islamic theory, and as a result of that a Dutch practice of Islam.
From an Islamic point of view I’m interested in the discrepancy
between the broad space within Islamic theory for cultural expressions
like clothing, and the limited use that Western Muslims sometimes make
hereof. Converts oten chose automatically for a Turkish or Moroccan type
of headscarf, while at the same time stressing their Dutch identity and the
fact that Islam is not bound to merely Oriental cultures. he creation of a
unique Dutch Muslim identity, with a new headscarf style that contradicts
stereotypes about foreigners or Muslims, could possibly bridge that
discrepancy. For this reason, my research question is: In which ways can
a new headscarf style create emancipatory possibilities for young Muslim
women within Dutch society?
To answer this question I interviewed born and converted Muslim
women, and asked them for their motivations to wear a headscarf (in the
future) and which obstacles they experience(d). In the irst part of this
thesis I will analyze the relationship between the headscarf and Dutch
identity, the headscarf and acceptance of the family, and the headscarf
and career prospects (discrimination in the workplace). I will also ask the
women which solutions they came up with.
In the second part of this thesis I will argue that the existing
solutions of the Dutch Muslim women are not suicient and could be
much more creative and active (instead of reactive). Clothing is a language,
but the headscarf oten doesn’t communicate the message that a Muslim
woman wants to convey. To create a new headscarf concept, I will ask the
women what they would like to communicate with their headscarves.
he headscarf – and Islam in general – is not seen as a part of
Dutch culture in popular discourse. But Dutch Muslims, especially Dutch
converts, are both Dutch and Muslim and the living proof of this junction.
In contrary to the fact that Muslims have in fact become a part of Dutch
society, Dutch Muslims haven’t developed their own identity yet when
it comes to clothing – at least not as much as Indonesian Muslims for
example have their distinctive Islamic identity that difers from Arabic
Volume 18, Number 1 (2016)
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Laura Mora
Islamic identities. To ind out whether Dutch Muslim women are open to
developing their own identity, I asked what they think of the concept of ‘a
Dutch Islam’.
he last paragraph explains why fashion could be an efective
instrument to counter discrimination issues. It also explores which Islamic
fashion is known to Dutch Muslim women and whether they are willing to
experiment with fashion and creativity and their expectations of it.
his thesis is relevant for the understanding of the diverse ways
Muslims give shape to their daily practice as citizen of Dutch society. his
thesis shows that despite gender-based discrimination and Islamophobia,
the Dutch Muslim women that participated in the interviews feel that he
Netherlands is their country and want to contribute to their acceptance.
By broadening the deinition of ‘emancipation’ – by deining it as ‘using
knowledge and creativity in order to stay ahead of discrimination instead
of only batling it’ – the agency of Muslim women can be analyzed in a way
that is useful in the context of Islam and gender.
he most important literature forming my theoretical framework
comes from the disciplines of anthropology, (political) philosophy and
gender studies. he theorists all have a speciic vision on discrimination,
emancipation, feminism, Islam in the West and conversion to Islam. hese
theories helped to deconstruct the stereotype image of Muslim women
as victims of their religion and men, and supported my vision of Muslim
women as self-assured women with agency and ambitions for their faith,
social relationships and careers. I do however believe that, based on a
positive feminist atitude, Muslim women can ight injustice more actively
and more creatively.
In this thesis there is no space for a literature study of the principle
Islamic scriptures like the Qoran and hadith, and thereby comes the fact
that it is not within my ield to study religious texts. However, basic Islamic
principles are important for this thesis to the extent that it is important for
Muslim women themselves. Whenever we explore new headscarf styles, it
has to match the Islamic criteria of body covering, because these women
would otherwise not accept the proposal.
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B. discussion and result
1. Intersectionality
In the beginning of the 1992s Kimberlé Crenshaw introduced the
term ‘intersectionality’ in the Gender Studies (1991). Intersectionality is
a way of analyzing discrimination and identity construction, by taking into
account diferent elements of identity and seeing them as inluencing each
other. A discrimination case is oten looked at from the angle of just one
element, such as gender. But intersectionality theory argues that gender
can’t be seen separately from ethnicity, nationality, class, religion, age,
sexuality, profession etc (Botman, 2001).
When young girls (convert and) wear a headscarf, it doesn’t only
afect the aspect of religious identity, but also other aspects like ethnicity,
profession, class and sexuality. Gloria Wekker explains that these aspects
can determine someone’s position in public life and the expectations
people have (Botman et al, 2001). he headscarf cannot be seen separately
from being a woman, being Muslim, being young and having ambitions
in life. Sexuality also implicitly plays a role because the headscarf is worn
oten to keep sexual beauty private to oneself. Class plays a role when
the headscarf leads to the perception of a woman from belonging to the
dominant culture (without headscarf) to being a second-class citizen.
2. feminism
Intersectional theory makes clear that we are not only just women,
oppressed by men. We can also be blacks, oppressed by whites. Each of
us has a diferent notion of emancipation, which may difer from the ideal
of certain Western non-Muslim feminists. Emancipation and integration
issues are not mutually exclusive (htp://www.e-quality.nl/e-quality/
pagina.asp?pagkey=42259&), and Muslim women should get their own
position within feminism. Jasmin Zine found that Muslim women in
political and feminist arena are oten represented as oppressed victims
who should be liberated and modernized ( Jasmin Zine, 2008). Although
I see my target group not as oppressed victims, I take their experiences
of discrimination very seriously, and I explore a solution that is desirable
for them.
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Laura Mora
In her recent study ‘Feminism in Multicultural Societies: An
analysis of Dutch Multicultural and Postsecular Developments and their
Implications for Feminist Debates’, Eva Midden argues that feminism
should be more inclusive, rather than excluding certain women (Eva,
2010: 240). he emancipation of Muslim women with headscarves I
therefore see as a part of feminism. Midden also states that emancipation
means more to Muslim women than having the same career opportunities
as men. Emancipation is for them the freedom to make their own choices
but also taking into account their faith and the demands of family and
friends (2010: 239). Exploring possibilities for ighting unjust situations
of Muslim women’s lives is not just a feminist duty, but also an Islamic
one. In Islam men and women are worth exactly the same, and women
have the responsibility to develop themselves and improve their position
in society.
3. countering discrimination
he discrimination of women wearing headscarves is a structural
and ideological problem, based on very old ideas, but also ideas that
are created every day again and again, reinforced and put into practice.
Philomena Essed brought this everyday racism to light (Essed, 1990: 2).
She argued that the meaning of racism is not only the extreme (violent)
cases, but also the more subtle things that happen every day. For example,
when a woman with headscarf is being asked if she masters the Dutch
language, it can be seen as every day racism.
Because the ight against discrimination is not inished overnight,
it is important that Muslim women don’t get discouraged or accept
discrimination. Muslim women cannot be blamed for their discrimination
but it is possible for them to take responsibility and make the choice to
wear the headscarf easier by taking action instead of only reacting. Saba
Mahmood’s deinition of agency describes this atitude: agency is not an
opposition or struggle against the environment, but an opportunity to
take action (Mahmood, 2001: 220).
I base this on Rosi Braidoti’s concept of airmative ethics: this
theory assumes that every negative situation can be transformed into
a positive situation. It does not allow people to be defeated by strong
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emotions as a result of discrimination, but it wants people to become
active, move and evolve through these experiences. In other words, it
«puts the motion back into emotion» (Braidoti, 2006: 235-254).
4. converts
Karin van Nieuwkerk wrote in her research “Veils and wooden
clogs do not go together: female converts and the construction of Dutch
national identity” that the construction of Dutch identity is based on the
Islam as the ultimate Other. he concept is framed in this way: the Dutch
woman is progressive and liberated, contrary to the backward Muslim
woman. When a Dutch woman starts to wear a headscarf, she won’t be
seen any longer as Dutch. A headscarf and wooden clogs are framed as two
mutual exclusive things, whereby wooden clogs symbolize Dutch identity
(Nieuwkerk: 245).
Vanessa Vroon-Najem analyzed the way Dutch converts use
their capacity to act to change their lives, and describes this in her article
«Pushing the limits of Dutchness: agency and change in the context of
female conversion to Islam». Vroon counters the dominant view of the
Muslima as oppressed by her religion, by showing that converts borrow
empowering values from their religion that contribute to their agency.
5. dutch Islam
he inspiration for the concept of a ‘Dutch Islam’ comes from
Bassam Tibi who introduces the concept of a Euro-Islam. He wanted to
inspire Muslims to integrate in European societies by stressing the binding
factor of citizenship and belonging to Europe. Tariq Ramadan’s vision of a
Euro-Islam also appeals to me because he inspires Muslims to examine their
own faith (the text) and take into account their context (Bechler, 2004: 2).
He stressed that Muslims should not base their religious experiences on a
clash with the culture in which they live, but have to use their freedom to
take the good from it. Bridges can only be built when Muslims adopt this
atitude (Bechler: 3).
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Laura Mora
6. Islamic fashion
Annelies Moors has studied the phenomenon of Islamic fashion.
Her article “Islamic Fashion in Europe: religious conviction, aesthetic style,
and creative consumption” shows that Muslim women in he Netherlands
are interested in fashion and that they want to convey messages with their
clothes. Moors has found that Muslim women are very aware of the fact that
their headscarf communicates certain things to other people (Moors, 2009:
196). Following this, I examined the discrepancy between the message
Muslim women want to convey and what they actually communicate to
their non-Muslim surroundings, or more speciically, their ideas on how
others perceive them.
7. Internal and external clashes
a. Motivations and obstacles
An open question about the motivations of the interviewed Dutch
Muslim women to wear the headscarf or procrastinate it, brought some
clashes to light. Eva Midden mentioned in a recent survey four main
reasons for Muslim women to wear a headscarf: resistance, religion, identity
and family/community (Eva Midden, 2010: 152-153). I’m curious which
reasons my interviewees themselves mention, because it illustrates their
consideration of barriers on one side and motivations on the other side.
Motivations Of all the interviewees, nine women wear a headscarf
(of which one born Muslim), some since several months and some
since several years. he other fourteen people don’t wear a headscarf
permanently, but say they wish to do so in the future. heir motivations are
roughly divided into four categories. Half of the girls mention as a reason
that the headscarf is part of Islam and it is mandatory. Other motivations
are: keeping their feminine beauty private, showing their Muslim identity,
and because they feel comfortable with it.
Obstacles he fourteen people that don’t wear a headscarf don’t
see the possibility to do it, as it will trouble their relationship with family
and work. Interviewees who already wear a headscarf also experience
diiculties or experienced this in the past. he large majority of the women
said that it is diicult to wear it because people see it as not belonging to
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the Dutch culture. A second reason is the opinion of family and friends,
which is actually related to the irst.
b. dutch identity
Since the 1950s Islam became visible in he Netherlands, when
immigrants from mainly Suriname and Indonesia and later Morocco
and Turkey came to the Netherlands for diferent reasons. Islam is oten
regarded as an Eastern/Oriental religion, the religion of the immigrants.
Moreover, as the religion of the minorities that do not integrate well into
society, precisely because Islam is supposedly incompatible with Dutch
norms and values (Nieuwkerk : 233).
Converts seem to have an impossible task to combine their
headscarves with their Dutch identity, because they are no longer
considered Dutch when wearing a headscarf (Vroon-Najem, 2007: 19).
In this section, I examine how the headscarf relates to their Dutch identity,
and what the headscarf means for their position as women, as Muslims and
as Dutch citizens in this society.
An interesting discrepancy comes to light: when a Dutch Muslim
woman wears a headscarf, she notes that the non-Muslim environment
no longer perceives her as a ‘real’ Dutch. She changes her faith and her
appearance, but simultaneously this puts her in another box connected
to images of ethnicity, class, profession, atitude, education etc (Moors,
2009: 192). he automatic linking of the headscarf with a foreign culture
and stereotyping hereof is racist and sexist (Nieuwkerk: 229), and not only
born Muslims but also converted Muslims will be afected by this (VroonNajem, 2007: 22). More than half of respondents actually experienced that
they aren’t considered ‘real’ Dutch anymore with headscarf.
In short, the Dutch non-Muslim environment puts the convert with
headscarf in a particular box of foreign ethnicity, while the Muslim woman
merely sees her headscarf as part of her religion. In addition, the Muslim
woman chooses a particular box of ethnicity herself when preference is
given explicitly to a Moroccan style, and no alternatives are developed that
have a Dutch connotation. Because converts realize this, they anticipate to
prejudices which will make the choice for a headscarf harder.
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Prejudices about the headscarf contribute to the stereotyping of
the Muslim woman as the ultimate opposite of Dutch people. Jasmin Zine
called it ‘the oppressed Muslim woman paradigm’ (Zine: 13) and mentions
the backwardness that is atributed to Muslim women. In contrary, Dutch
women are represented in Dutch discourse as emancipated and capable.
Wearing a headscarf oten means that women lose certain privileges
that were taken for granted before, because their (blond) hair is no longer
visible in public space. Or, in the case of born Muslims and converts from
migrant backgrounds, the chance to discrimination increases as their
religion becomes visible: they can be discriminated not only for racist
reasons but also Islamophobic reasons. his is experienced as disturbing,
since these women do regard themselves as Dutch, and because they are
expected to speak poor Dutch, to be of a lower class and non-modern.
his puts pressure on Muslim women to prove they are true Dutch women
too, and as much capable and emancipated. hey want to be considered as
equals instead of inferiors.
However, Muslim women feel the responsibility to counter these
stereotypes by fulilling a role as ambassador of Islam, and function
as a bridge between Muslims and non-Muslims, or ethnic Dutch and
‘foreigners’). his means half of the women ind it important to have an
accessible physical appearance. Others ind it less important because they
want to let their personality speak in countering stereotypes and building
bridges. However, since the veiled Muslima is oten not seen as ‘real’
Dutch, building bridges can be a diicult task. Because the headscarf oten
forms a physical barrier, one has to prove herself more through personality
(conversations, behavior, etc.). his puts great pressure on them, since they
feel they have to always act representational (or keeping up appearances),
while they are also merely human beings with shortcomings.
c. acceptance by family
he second obstacle to wear a headscarf is related to parents’
opinion about the headscarf. he American convert Nicole Queen, known
for her fashion statements, explains this in an interview:
”Wearing hijab is a huge decision for anyone, especially for a convert. his
is something that no one in our community or family ever wears, or even
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understands. It’s a public display to everyone you know past and present,
that you have converted to Islam and are devoted to it.”
his section examines the struggles parents have with the headscarf,
which emotions or events are related to this, which role this plays in the
decision to wear a headscarf, and whether (convert) women understand
the opinion of their parents.
Two-thirds of the veiled interviewees say their parents - albeit with
diiculty - accept that their daughter wear a headscarf, even though they
ind it ugly, incomprehensible, or they just hide their true opinion. Half of
the non-veiled women expect their parents to accept it when they take this
step in the future, even though they would like to do everything in their
power to try to prevent them from doing so.
One third of the veiled women said their parents didn’t accept the
headscarf, and half of the girls who are planning on wearing one also expect
objections from their parents. Many parents do not accept the headscarf as
long as their daughter lives at home, but when their daughter lives on her
own they cannot forbid it.
he result is that the choice of the headscarf is accompanied by
strong emotions of both converts and their parents, and that the relationship
possibly gets troubled. For some women this is the main reason not to wear
it, or wait till they move out to live on their own. Convert understands
that her parents have issues with the headscarf, and therefore she takes it
of when she visits them on weekends. As a result she feels she is forced
to live a double life. Even though the women understand the opinion of
their parents, they ind it unjust. here must come a solution to make this
process smoother: a sort of compromise or temporary solution.
d. discrimination and career
he previous section showed that for example the parents are
concerned about their daughters’ career prospects. I’m wondering if these
concerns – not the prejudices – are grounded some reality. he following
text is a website for employers, Recruitment and Selection Guide, an online
guide for equal treatment in recruitment, job interviews and selection.
Mariete Hermans states in an article commissioned by E-quality
that many employers indeed rely on the alleged lack of representativeness
Volume 18, Number 1 (2016)
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Laura Mora
when rejecting a veiled Muslim woman (Hermans, 2002). Women who
are rejected because of their headscarves, are discriminated against on
the basis of their gender and religion simultaneously (intersectional). he
article continues:
“he LBR concludes that this form of discrimination has major
implications for Muslim women. hey avoid certain professions or ields
of work because they have litle chance inding a job or they become
discouraged to even work at all.”
For the Muslim women I have interviewed, discrimination in
the workplace is a current problem. In section 3.1 (Motivations and
obstacles) it became clear that the headscarf isn’t easy to combine with a
career. he closed questions about this topic, showed that all respondents
aspire a career (whether or not at the top). However, three-quarters of the
respondents said they either experienced discrimination in the workplace
on the basis of the headscarf, or expect to be discriminated in their
future careers.
Half of the respondents will accept a rejection or concession in the
future, because; this is reality, sometimes there is no choice, she chooses
herself for a headscarf, because it is too painful to hear a ‘no’ as an answer,
there are plenty of other options, God will provide for a beter job, and
because you have to keep on trying.
Every Dutch Muslima deals with the combination of scarf and
career in her own way. In this section I want to take a closer look at some of
the examples. I am particularly interested in the question whether future
plans change because of the headscarf, what ways are found to circumvent
discrimination and the role that career plans have in wearing a headscarf.
8. concessions to the headscarf
Some Muslim women can’t circumvent discrimination, or work
in an industry that doesn’t accept headscarves. Muslima # 15 studies
Marketing and Communication, and does her internship in high fashion.
Headscarves are barely present in the Western fashion world, and are
generally not accepted in representative positions. Because her career is so
important to her, she decided to ignore her wish for a headscarf.
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It is sad that discrimination is such an issue that Muslim women
oten have to choose between wearing a headscarf and pursuing their
dream career. It would give these Muslim women more freedom of
choice and equality in opportunity, when the headscarf is not a threat to
their professions.
9. concessions to future career plans
Most interviewees that want to wear a headscarf change their future
plans because of (expected) discrimination: convert changed her study
from Hairdressing to Social Pedagogical Work. Other convert now studies
Communication instead of going to the Fashion Academy. he other one
probably has to quit her job in security when she will wear a headscarf.
he atitude of the converted medical student is the most common
one: she expects to be faced with discrimination, but she accepts rejections.
She would just try to apply for a job somewhere else, because she wouldn’t
want to work at a discriminative place anyway. She also trusts in God,
and she is conident that she can overcome possible conlicts about the
headscarf and that it won’t disadvantage her at the end.
10. enhancing acceptance
Eighteen women, of which seven veiled, said that they ind the
acceptance of their headscarves important. It difers whether they think
it is important that only close relatives accept it or also the people at their
work. Some women however ind acceptance irrelevant, since they have
to be comfortable with it themselves and it is not so much other people’s
business. But the majority thinks acceptance makes life easier in general
and gives the opportunity for people to see her as a human being instead of
reducing her to her headscarf.
A total of sixteen Muslim women, including six with headscarf,
wish to have a positive impact by their behavior. Or in other words, by
participating in society and «by being what Islam requires of us, which
is to be good for others, then they will understand that the headscarf is
not a negative thing, but just a headscarf.» he fact that so many women
feel this responsibility, is explained by Annelies Moors in her research
about Islamic fashion. Because veiled women are instantly recognizable
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Laura Mora
as Muslims, they feel a responsibility to disprove stereotypes and leave a
positive impression. his is even stronger in the public space or at work
(Moors, 2009: 195).
By far the fewest people indicated that they want to leave a positive
impact by their dresses or style of headscarf. his doesn’t necessarily
mean that they don’t adjust their clothes to the ideas of non-Muslims –
because the data show they care – but it says something about the degree
of importance to them. he most important instrument is their behavior,
then dialogue, and only then comes the style of clothing and headscarf.
But the women admit that their strategies are not always efective enough,
and they are open to inding new solutions.
11. New headscarf style
Muslim women can expand their agency, what they would like to
communicate with their headscarves, why fashion is a good instrument to
be one step ahead of discrimination, and how a new scarf style can help
create a unique identity and reduce (internal) clashes.
12. agency
Several organizations have tried to counter everyday racism of
veiled women, by challenging prejudices. Examples of such organizations
are Stichting Ontsluiert (Foundation Uncovers)5 and Al Nisa, founded in
1982 by Dutch convert women.6 In 2010, Al Nisa held a successful poster
campaign, called ‘Echt Nederlands’ (Truly Dutch), with the aim to show
the diversity among Muslim women and their Dutch identity, as a playful
counterbalance to the prejudiced political debates in he Netherlands
Discrimination that manifests itself every day, in all kinds of
situations, cannot be contested successfully overnight. hat’s because we
are all actors in a complex power structure (Essed, 1990: viii). It would
be destructive when Muslim women see themselves as passive victims,
and fortunately my interviewees don’t. hey have in fact shown to possess
a particular kind of agency (capacity to act) and also like to use that to
improve their position in society. But not through clash or rude struggle:
they feel responsible to manage the choice for their headscarf as smoothly
as possible. his is the deinition of agency that Saba Mahmood uses:
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agency is not an opposition or struggle, but an opportunity to take action
(Mahmood: 220).
Ater researching Egyptian Muslim women, Mahmood developed
an interesting deinition of agency: «the capacity to realize one’s own
interests against the weight of custom, tradition, transcendental will, or
other obstacles (whether individual or collective)». My interviewees only
partly live up to this deinition: on the one hand they deliberately chose
to go against their culture by wearing a headscarf, on the other hand they
can’t achieve some goals because of discrimination and have to become
more active and creative to overcome obstacles.
he Muslima doesn’t have – like anyone else – the power to change
her surroundings but she does have control over her own headscarf: not
only the choice to wear it, but also the choice how she wears it. I believe
that the Muslima can limit the degree of discrimination by developing
a new style. According to Braidoti’s airmative action this could even
transform negative situations into positive situations (Braidoti, 2006:
235-254). With the power headscarf, the Dutch Muslima can pursue
her goals and aspirations. A Muslima who seems to break with all the
stereotypes, internal and external, so that she can be herself while her
social environment accepts it and while she doesn’t experience that many
barriers anymore in the workplace. A scarf that enables her to be a Muslim
and an equal Dutch citizen, instead of being othered.
13. appearance
Clothes form a language, and a headscarf communicates certain
things. he ‘problem’ with the conventional headscarf is that the message
of the headscarf is oten diferently received by non-Muslims than how
it is intended by the Muslima. In this world it’s all about the looks, but
the Muslim women want to show that it is the inside that counts. But the
discrimination she faces is based on her appearance, so she cannot ignore
that outside. he conventional headscarf sometimes closes doors for her.
If the Muslima is ambitious and feels responsible as a bridge-builder in
society, it is important that she keeps some doors open, as many as possible.
She can change her appearance in some situations, just to give her inner
personality a chance to speak. his can be achieved with a completely new,
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Laura Mora
surprising and creative scarf style, that communicates other things than
the standard headscarf.
his is not at all about a headscarf style that is less covering
or ignores Islamic principles. It is about creating a look that is closer to
Dutch culture and not per deinition Oriental. his can be achieved for
example by using head covering as known in Western history. Or by using
objects that don’t derived directly from the scarf (like hats, hoodies, caps
and rules) and combining it with Western modern clothing that covers
the neck and bosom (turtlenecks, tunics, blouses, blazers, shawls). A scarf
with new connotations, which communicates what the Muslima wants to
communicate herself. To explore what message women want to convey
I asked them several questions about their self-image and the image that
others of them might have.
14. Prejudices
Nearly all Muslim women see themselves as an independent
emancipated woman, because of free upraising, their character, education,
self-determined atitude, independent living, and women’s rights in Islam.
Only four women think that others (non-Muslims) also see them in this
same way. However, eleven women think that non-Muslims see them in a
very diferent way: oppressed, poorly educated, and not as strong woman.
his discrepancy is a source of discrimination of these women. It is easier to
wear a headscarf when non-Muslims would perceive them as emancipated
as without.
Half of the interviewees think a new scarf style doesn’t make a
diference, because ‘a headscarf remains a headscarf ’ and people will not
see the diference between the diferent styles. he other half however
thinks a new style does have an impact on how people perceive them,
precisely because of the power of fashion and clothing in terms of social
acceptance. It is the religious, political, economic, ethnic etc. connotation
of the headscarf that gives rise to tensions between Muslims and nonMuslims. he aesthetics and variety of colors and shapes can afect the
appearance of a Muslima positively in a total diferent way.
Aesthetics Annelies Moors explains that the acceptance of Muslim
women by the general public is oten linked to the aesthetic content of the
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Islamic dress (Moors:197). he more beautiful the dress or the headscarf,
the sooner it is accepted. Most Muslim women ind themselves beautiful
with a headscarf, but their non-Muslim environment oten inds it ugly or
a shame that they don’t show their beauty.
Within feminism and the Islamic cultures it is rather controversial
to use clothes or beautify yourself in order to gain acceptance. On the other
hand, it may beneit someone to rethink the concept of one’s clothes.
Nine interviewees experienced situations in which non-Muslims
found their headscarves beautiful. Especially when they used lighter colors,
lower prints and accessories.
15. Unique dutch Muslim identity
As more and more Dutch women accept Islam as their religion, and
more and more ‘born’ Muslims who feel truly Dutch, it might be a good
thing to invest in the development of a unique Dutch Muslim identity.
Islam is a part of the Netherlands, and shouldn’t be seen any longer as
something alien to he Netherlands (Tibi, 2007: 99-100).
In he Netherlands, Muslims form a minority that are generally
of ‘foreign’ ethnic origins and migrated to he Netherlands for economic
or political reasons. Because of certain integration issues and political
debates about Muslims as a group, being a ‘Muslim’ became synonym for
‘immigrant’ and vice versa. Because the minority group is reduced to their
religion in public debate, there is this tendency among born Muslims: they
themselves start to link their Muslim identity to their ethnic background
(Bassam Tibi: 93). Some of them feel more conident as Muslims when
they base their identity on anything that is non-Western, and reject
anything that is related to Western culture (Bechler, 2004: 3). A ‘Western’
scarf style would feel like a loss of Islamic identity for persons with that
mentality.
It is however strange that some Dutch converts copy this atitude,
as they choose only a new religion and not a new ethnicity. It is actually
very important to combine religious practices with one’s own cultural
background. his doesn’t only beneit Dutch society in general, but also
the convert herself for psychological reasons.
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16. Islamic criteria
he concept of a Dutch Islam is not about changing the religion
or its rules. Within Islam there is space for people to give shape to their
religious practices in a personal way. he Islamic concept of adab includes
etiquete (greeting, showing respect, etc.) and dress codes, based on the
Qur’an and Sunnah (way of life of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be
upon him). 8 his can be combined with the adat: cultural conventions,
social norms (clothing) and customs. Traditions and customs can either
contribute to Islamic practice, oppose it or be neutral.
In Islam, clothes are meant to cover the body and protect the body
and honor. he Islamic dress code for the hijab (headscarf) is bound to
certain criteria: according to most Sunni schools of thought a woman
should cover her entire body except her hands and face, the clothes should
not be transparent or that tight that it follows the lines of her body, she
should cover for men who are not immediate family. In addition, it is not
allowed to wear clothes to show of (out of arrogance) or to seduce people.
But within these criteria, details are not mentioned: it is allowed to use
diferent fabrics, colors, models, layers, accessories etc. his depends on
the context, cultures, religious interpretations and personal preferences.
Nearly all women think an Arabic style is not mandatory, as long as
the criteria are met. It is important for the women that the headscarf covers
suiciently, is recognizable Islamic, but not Eastern perse. “You have to be
very creative.» Whether the Dutch Muslim women are open to creativity
is examined in the following paragraphs.
17. fashion
Fashion has a materialistic, capitalistic, commercial and disciplinary
side, but also an artistic, expressive, creative and uniting character. Fashion
has the power to break all expectations and stereotypes by creating new
concepts. he deinition of creativity is: ‘thinking about a problem and
solving it in a surprising way’ (Santagata, 2002: 6). Fashion designers have
knowledge about people’s behaviors and expectations, and play with that
to surprise people.
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Creative designers like Rabia Z (Dubai), the designers of Noor
D*Izar (Belgium), and Zleqha (Malaysia) have tried to give the headscarf
a new twist. heir motives to design new headscarves are based on the
assumption that like any other garment the headscarf is a symbol, and
symbols afect people’s behavior and their reactions. Symbols reinforce
common values, and the feeling of belonging to a community (Santagata,
2002: 18).
18. atitude
Among certain groups of Muslims fashion and beauty are
considered a taboo, or is considered to be incompatible with religion. I
asked my respondents what they think of fashion: nearly all women
(twenty, seven with headscarf) have a positive opinion. hirteen women
think fashion is compatible with being Muslim, and the other ten women
say it depends on the intentions someone has.
Not only Muslim women’s outlook on fashion, but also their
behavior in terms of dress is important to analyze. his will show whether
Muslim women are open to change their styles and try new ways of
covering. I asked whether they are sensitive to the taste of their non-Muslim
environments and adjust their clothes to it: almost all women conirmed.
However, these women are more familiar with Dutch fashion
rather than to draw inspiration from the Islamic Fashion catwalks in Dubai,
Musqat and Malaysia. But there are also many women who never heard of
Islamic catwalks. Islamic fashion is not really commonly known among the
Dutch Muslim women, but they are certainly interested to see more of it.
he major obstacle in choosing for the headscarf is the reactions
that non-Muslims will give. A new style headscarf counters certain
stereotypes and evokes positive reactions (and thus is expected to provide
less discrimination), so it may be easier to choose the headscarf.
A new style headscarf would have an emancipating potential in
that sense, because a Muslim woman feels more freedom to express her
identity, while at the same time developing on a personal/social level and
in her career.
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Laura Mora
If necessary, the new style can be worn temporarily or only in
certain environments such as the workplace, so that the transition from
a non-veiled to a veiled woman is less confrontational. It gives a convert’s
family some time to get used to it, ater which she might decide to switch to
a more Arabic style of wearing the scarf. A beautiful, unique headscarf has
the potential to win hearts, evoke positive feedback, facilitate ambitions
and courage (Santagata, 2002: 16), instead of fears and discrimination.
Dutch Muslim women can easily achieve their goals this way, because their
headscarf is one step ahead of discrimination. his gives them more agency
and control: the power headscarf.
c. conclusion
he efects of discrimination of veiled women are noticeable in
everyday situations, which complicates the choice to wear a headscarf.
Discrimination is based on negative stereotypes about Islam and gender,
and the headscarf is the ultimate symbol for everything that is ‘allochtoon’
(foreign): oppressed and backward. Because Muslim women haven’t fully
developed their own Dutch Muslim identity, they oten automatically
choose to wear an eastern-looking headscarf, instead of a creating a
Dutch one. Since the Islamic doctrine gives space to a range of cultural
expressions like fashion styles, Muslim women could expand their agency
and inluence situations positively by using a new headscarf style, leading
to more opportunities and empowerment.
When a new style headscarf can be developed that is less ‘Other’
and is more in line with Dutch aesthetics, it might debunk stereotypes
and invoke positive reactions. Perhaps this headscarf has the potential to
reduce the clashes with Dutch culture, parents and career plans, because
it emphasizes aesthetics (instead of the religious, political and ethnic
connotation) and communicates what Muslim women wish: Muslim,
Dutch, emancipated, equal/digniied, modern and educated. Such a
headscarf let her personality and professionalism speak and could ensure
that most doors remain open and, instead of her being deined a priori in
terms that suggest a headscarf turns a woman into an inferior citizen of
he Netherlands.
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When Muslim women choose to wear a headscarf, this oten
creates tensions between her and her parents or she changes her future
plans. Current solutions such as explaining her faith and wish for a
headscarf to people are not suicient, because in most cases this is
reactive instead of preemptive. By creating a new Dutch headscarf that
causes reduction of cultural tensions, Muslim women could be one step
ahead of discrimination. With a high dose of creativity and willingness to
experiment, a new style headscarf ofers emancipatory perspectives for
young Dutch Muslim women. Muslim women stay closer to their own
cultural background, relationship with parents will be less disturbed and
the choices in terms of career be enhanced by the ‘power’ headscarf.
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