FASHION: Being Muslim, Female and Chic

This is a guest post by Ismat Mangla, the editor-in-chief of Nirali magazine.

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Being a Muslim woman in the West isn'€t easy € - and if you practice some form of purdah (covering), it can be especially tricky. You want to fit in and assert yourself as a proud, educated, modern woman, but throw on some extra clothes and a headscarf and you might as well be sporting a neon sign on your head that screams, "I'€™m Muslim! I'€™m DIFFERENT!"€ And there are plenty of people who add another meaning to that sign "€œShe'€™s oppressed! She can'€™t think for herself!"€ (In 2004, Michigan Radio profiled Zoe Piliafas, a college student who donned a burqa for a few months and decided that it did make her feel oppressed. Some Muslim women disagree with her assessment.)

So I was excited to see today'€™s New York Times piece, "We, Myself and I," on the challenges Muslim American women face when it comes to merging modesty and style. I'€™ve been there - €”I practice purdah, but I also don't want to leave the house looking like I could not care less about my appearance. 

The story leads with a mention of Aysha Hussain, a Pakistani-American magazine writer, who wants to follow fashion but also wants to adhere 'to the tenets of her Muslim faith'€: 

Ms. Hussain has worked out an artful compromise, concealing her curves under a mustard-tone cropped jacket and a tank top that is long enough to cover her hips. 

In addition to Hussain, reporter Ruth La Ferla cites various examples of American Muslim women who adapt Islam’s modesty mandate to their lifestyles. In fact, there’s even a new magazine called Muslim Girl, which caters to American teenagers and covers the fashion scene from a Muslim perspective. (See this March 24 Washington Post article on the magazine, which launched in January and has a circulation of 40,000.) Of course, it’s a perpetual balancing act:   

In purely aesthetic terms, the devout must work to evolve a style that is attractive but not provocative, demure but not dour—friendly to Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

And according to La Ferla, while there are a few Web sites such as Artizar.com and TheHijabShop.com that offer stylish duds for modest Muslims, the market remains virtually untapped:   

Today few retailers cater to a growing American Muslim population that is variously estimated to be in the range of three to seven million. "€œLooking for clothes that are covering can be a real challenge when you go to a typical store,"€ Ms. Khan [editor of Muslim Girl] said. 

(La Ferla forgets to mention the growing number of companies aimed at providing modest swimwear for Muslim women; Newsweek did a piece in January 2007.)

This story isn'€™t the first time the mainstream media has covered the concept of "€œhijab chic." €”Asra Nomani, who is also interviewed in La Ferla'™s piece, wrote about it in Slate in October 2005, discussing a Nordstrom fashion show for "€œveiled and conservative"€ women (which La Ferla also mentions). The Washington Post covered the story first in August 2005: "€œBalancing Religious Sensitivity, Fashion Sense."€

What La Ferla'€™s piece - ”and most of the others I'€™ve read - €”lacks, however, is an analysis of how wearing a burqa or hijab can impact American Muslim women professionally, and how being stylish might soften that negative effect. I recently had a journalism mentor, €”whom I admire and respect immensely, €”suggest that perhaps my headscarf may get in the way of me finding jobs in an increasingly competitive, image-driven media industry: "If I were speaking to a Christian or Jewish woman, I would also advise her not to wear a large cross or Star of David in a professional environment."€

I politely told him that I could not and would not sacrifice my practice of purdah to increase my shot at a magazine job, but his advice did confirm a nagging suspicion I'€™ve had all along - €”that no matter how good my work is, there are going to be some employers who will mentally deduct points for my dress. I'€™m just hoping my cute bag and shoes will at least bump me up a notch.

Comments

[Hilal]

great piece, ismat! it's very unfortunate that your 'mentor' would go there. i'm sure there absolutely are employers who will judge you etc. (based on what you choose to wear) but you probably wouldn't want to work for them anyway :)

[FYR]

I remember getting into a heated debate with some Muslim men about whether or not purdah would affect a woman professionally. I was very disheartened that they were all negative - they even said they would be unlikely to take a woman in purdah seriously. At the time of the debate, I worked in the tech industry and didn't wear a hijab. When I adopted the hijab a few years later, I didn't get any negativity - in fact, one of the senior management said he didn't see how my scarf affected my performance if one of the guys could wear a yarmulke. I was very grateful for that sentiment. And even in other (new) work environments, I've never felt the need to hide or try to compensate for the hijab, and I always wondered if it was because people in NYC are so used to people dressing a certain way for religious reasons or if I've just been phenomenally lucky.

[i have a dream]

I think the negative perceptions of women wearing a burqa are real and need to be fought vigorously, however when I see companies trying to make it stylish according to western norms, i'm a little unsettled. On the one hand, there are people that say any embracing of the "other" in mainstream culture is a good thing, but i think the burqa and the pagadi (i'm sikh, but clean shaven since birth) are too "other" to ever be stylish according to mainstream western norms. I don't think there's going to be a widespread trend of late teens or early twenty year olds wearing burqas or turbins. I think ultimately your belief in wearing these items is going to need to be stronger than the societal pressures to conform to western norms of style if its going to last. Ideally if we had a society that put less focus on this more restricted view of style, this may not be an issue and maybe it's worth trying to make society that way. In the meantime though, there's another option that many choose, to restrict your society to just those that also wear the burqa or turbin, then you won't feel as left out. I think there are a lot of negatives to this. It will just reinforce "otherness" and further fracture society.

So what it boils down to is the statement i made earlier. If you choose to remain in the larger American society then your belief in wearing the item has to be stronger than the societal pressures to conform to western norms of style. Ultimately, I know at least in the Sikh community, there's a trend in kids and young adults cutting their hair. Ultimately i don't think it's going to last, but i think it's important NOT to equate this with people being less spiritual. As the world becomes more interconnected and the internet continues to connect the world, all the idolatry of relgion will ultimately fade away and we'll instead mold into a spiritual oneness based around the common set of values that our religions preach. Hehe, ok, that last sentence was a bit of a long shot, but i had to finish big. BIG!

[sabith khan]

Hi

Interesting post. As a Public Relations professional in India and having observed the purdah system at very close quarters, i think it is a matter of perceptions at the end of the day.

I think if the purdah can somehow become "mainstream", like the stubble beard has ( in India ) at least...where it is not seen negatively at least, then half the battle is won !

Think along the lines of : a fashion line with burqas, a designer burqa boutique ( dont know if they already exist), use of burqa by celebrities in US ( which create positive associations with women who are progressive, modern yet want to wear hijab out of choice ).....

[Manavi]

Thanks for such a good write-up.

In the U.S., it is hard to be YOU if this YOU does not confirm to the mainstream view of modern and progressive woman. Any subscription to your cultural norms is either seen as exotic or sign of oppression but not 'normal.' As if all who wear 'modern' clothes are liberated and strong people. In my experience, I have encountered stronger women in Asian politics and in villages rather than in DC. By no means am I saying that women are not strong in the U.S., but stereotyping the strong and progressive women as it is mostly done here is far from truth.

Be prepared to answer "you are all dressed up- you look nice - where are you going' each time you wear Salwar Kameez - a very routine one. Saree is out of question on most days. Being Indian means having to defend or denounce the arranged marriage depending upon if you want to be called ‘modern’ (denounce) or 'poor oppressed you'(defend or don't denounce). 'I love Indian food'- 'I have always been very interested in learning about India,' is what you hear if some one wants to hit on you. Wait a minute, I am not an Indian dessert - I am not a personal workshop to satisfy your curiosity on India or on 'exotic' Indian women.

Yes, it calls for more strength and tolerance each day and each minute to be just YOU in addition to a woman and a brown woman.

Manavi

[Qotrun]

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[panditjugalkishoreshastri]

a couplla reasons why burqa is on its last legs despite a couplla catalog-like adjectives someone above wrote in praise of burqa. most afghan women are found to suffer from anemia because of breathing obstructed by burqa. anemia is depletion of oxygen in blood. most afghan women are found to suffer glaucoma because of those meshed eye-cages they are forced to peer through. Glaucoma is a severe eye disease. These are the findings of world health organization (WHO.) Their business is measuring global health and addresing problems related to it. How long will the poor muslim woman be a pawn on the chcessboard of a mullah's faith? 200 years ago man wore a bale of cotton around his legs like a skirt. Then he put a stitch in the skirt between his legs and it became pants. Then came industrial revolution and his need to travel farther to work. He incorporated pockets as portable storage for little things. Fashion represents social progress not antiquity of caveman. Western woman abandoned her corset that used to kill her waist. She abandoned her garters. She even burned her bras because bras in Paula Goldberg's days were rough. When will muslim women do something pioneering and not walk respectful three steps behind their husbands. Yarmulke as headgear instead of a burqa gives a jewish man an age expectancy well beyond a number assigned to an afghan women, which is the lowest in the world.

The idea of fashion is to be seen in best places, speaking figuratively. the way a woman should wear clothes is to just about hide her embarrassment and look like a million dollars that she wants to be. burqa is passe, mini skirt is medieval and bathing suit is the thing of the day.

What you femmes out there seem to be saying to your mullahs is this: c'mon hit me some more, ike. and put some steak on it, this time. I think Ike is Tina Turner's husband. Wake up girls, there is no such thing as a weaker sex. Don't let your mullahs take you on another historical slumber party.

[Yeni Inayah]

That is an interesting opinion about the moderate dressing code.

My research areas of interest are Muslim women, Islamic clothing, dress, and textiles. Modesty in Islam is a complex term which isn’t limited to just the cloth that covers a body, but also the attitudes, interactions, and interpersonal relationships that govern relationships with one another and with the god.

[panditjugalkishoreshastri]

yeni

desert is the sun's anvil where it mercilessly beats down on humans like a red hot hammer. arabs of the desert had to invent headgear to beat the heat. but those in temperate climates don't need protection against hi helium combustion of the big disc up above.
Chinese bandaged their their women's feet to keep them tiny just so they couldn't stray too far from their men. brutality of custom often buried in its religion is not explained away by need for meaningles words like research, modesty, interactions, which, btw, is the same as interpersonal relationships.

modest people usually have much to be modest about. the only good thing about islamic fashions is: alterations are free. and one style fits all.