[Name of the Writer]

[Name of Instructor]

[Subject]

[Date]

Muslim Women

Introduction

International interest in Muslim women has increased as their dress, behavior, and social roles are seen as symbols of socioreligious trends against a backdrop of increasingly visible religiosity in Muslim communities in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. Interpretations of Islamic scriptures regarding women vary significantly and have been enshrined in law to differing degrees. Islam plays a key-yet often polarizing-role, especially as the current sociopolitical climate is such that debates about women's status are increasingly taking place in Islamic terms(White, 2009).

Discussion

Muslim Women as Polarizing Symbols

Muslim women are currently seen by many as a barometer and tangible symbol of their community's stance within these debates, with their dress and public behavior becoming a key issue for postcolonial governments, Western organizations, and a wide variety of local actors. Outside intervention-or any actions that could be portrayed as such by opponents-aimed at changing the education, dress, or behavior of Muslim women remains an extremely sensitive topic, as (often hypocritical) colonial administrators in parts of the Muslim world used the status of women as an excuse for condescending interference in local affairs.

Muslim Stereotyping

In Islamic contexts, the term veil refers to a variety of articles, many of which cover the hair, ears, and neck. The khimar is a longer headscarf. The niqab and chadri are veils that cover most of the face except for an opening for the eyes, covered by a concealing net or grille. The boshiya is a Gulf-style full-face black veil that covers the face of the person completely, leaving no opening for the eyes (Bennett, 2010).

The veil is an article of clothing worn by women to cover part of the head or face. Veiling is one of the most debated contemporary issues concerning Muslim women's rights, secularism, immigration, and multiculturalism (Siddiqi, 2008).

The veil is a major element in the stereotyping of Muslim women, and Muslim culture in general. Muslim women's dress has created controversy in the West as well as in Muslim countries, particularly Turkey, a secular country where the majority of the population is Muslim. In Europe, veiling, and Islamic dress in general, is regarded as a symbol of a value of conflicts and a failure of integration on the part of Muslim immigrant communities.

The dress of Muslim women is an area that has attracted significant interest from Western audiences. Veiling takes a variety of often region-specific forms, and can involve concealing some combination of hair, face, or entire body. Veiling is required by law in some Muslim countries-for instance, Iran and Saudi Arabia-yet more controversy surrounds women who choose to veil in countries-Muslim majority or otherwise-where it is not a legal requirement. Some argue that these women are forced to veil by society or their families, and that the veil is therefore a symbol of the oppression of women within Islam.

While pressure from family or society to veil exists in many communities, many Muslim women choose to veil to make a social, religious, or political statement. To many, veiling ...