Dr Roxanne D. Marcotte
History, Philosophy, Religion, Classics
University of Queensland
r.marcotte@uq.edu.au
TBA
The Veil and the Fashion of Identity, Morality, Resilience, and Resistance
El Guindi notes that "Resistance through the hijab or against it, in tangible form as attire or in intangible form as a code of behavior, has generated a dynamic discourse around gender, Islamic ideals, Arab society, and women's status and liberation." Within the boundaries of public sphere in Iran, a rigid and rigorist female dress code is strictly enforced, as public spaces remain the battleground for definitions of identity and morality through the control of women's behavior and dress code. Government policies define, promulgate, enforce, and punish non-conformity to their definition of Islamic identity and morality of society. Women become objects of their decrees. Women offer both resilience/conformity, but also resistance/non-conformity to this dictate. Women work within and without institutional spheres to affirm their own identities, defining the meaning of the hijab and its social representation. In other Muslim countries, the veil is increasingly used to defend Islamic nationalism, engage in participatory politics, and to resist local authoritarian regime, colonial occupation and Western dominance. In Iran, the veil and women's fashion in general have once more become the ideological battleground over nationalism, politics, and resistance to local authoritarian Islamic regime, giving new meaning and form to the veil. How are women participating in this ideological battleground with their old and new Islamic attire?
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