The hijab

I am currently doing a research paper on the hijab. At first I was trying to write about how Western societies view it as a symbol of oppression and nothing more. I was trying to show how it means much more than that to Iranian women. The problem I was facing was that there are still protesting against and for the hijab in Iran. I was arguing that the hijab was a symbol of history and cultural identity. By removing the hijab completely, one would be erasing the history of women.

This lead to a lot of interesting historical information. Like first I discovered that the hijab was never invented by Islamic people, instead it originated in Assyrian empires from 2000 B.C. This amazed me and truly interested me. Also I realized that Christianity and Judaism picked up the hijab or veil before Islam was even establish in the 7th century. The hijab also originally represented not just modesty, but the upper-class, women who did not have to work and had no reason to because of their social standing. Then definitiions of the hijab's meaning changed drastically over the centuries.

For example a quote from a woman named Masserat Amir-Ebrahimi in her article entitled: "Transgression in Narration: The Lives of Iranian Women in Cyberspace" (2008) stated that, "The meaning of the hijab in Iran went through several transformations during the 20th century" unveiled women symbolized the secular and westernized regime of Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi; wrapped up in the black chador, they became the icon of the Islamic Revolution; two decades later, their relaxed and colorful hijab became the symbol of a new era or reform in the Islamic Republic" For many women, the hijab has even become a tool against their oppression. They wear it proudly and speak out. They change the color and wear it differently. But they still wear it!

The hijab holds so many different meanings that it is ridiculous for so many Western feminists to simply label it as a sign of "oppression" One size does not fit all. Many women choose to wear the hijab for their own reasons, not just because of male dominance.

A study that was done in the United States by a woman named Rose Wietz was on the meaning of hair in cultures. She studied one woman who chose to wear the hijab and she stated that she wore it to ward of unwanted male attention. This of course was seen as a sign of oppression, for why should a woman need to hide herself, but she explained that many women in the United States use their bodies and their beauty as power, but with the hijab she know that her power comes from within and that she does not have to use her body.

The hijab is just a controversy topic and sometimes, when I am doing research and looking into this topic I become overwhelmed. So many people are against while so many agree with me.