The death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini at the hands of Iran’s morality police on 16 September shook the world. For the unversed, Amini was taken into custody for allegedly not wearing her hijab, or headscarf, properly. She died in detention, triggering world-wide protests that are continued to this day.
Iranians and women’s right groups based in Australia strongly reacted to the incident. They, too, took to streets in Melbourne and other centres to mark their dissent. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, in a video message, said: “Australia stands with women and people of Iran who are protesting for their human rights.”
After the death of Mahsa Amini, Australia stands with the women and people of Iran who are protesting for their human rights. pic.twitter.com/mpBuY5MIop
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) October 26, 2022
A timely book, titled The Hijab: Islam, Women and the Politics of Clothing, aims to help change the current and problematic narrative around hijab across the world. Edited by Delhi-based historian PK Yaseer Arafath and G Arunima, director of Kerala Council for Historical Research, the book features 17 compelling and thought-provoking essays (and a short story) from India, Bangladesh and Iran. Published in December by Simon & Schuster India, the book is an attempt to safeguard the rights of minorities and embrace difference.
“The essays in the book look at the ways in which politicising the hijab has had a detrimental effect on Muslim women’s sovereignty over their bodies and life choices,” Arunima tells Indian Link.
While some writers here explore women’s lives through an analysis of their life histories, others study the relationship between the hijab, Muslim women’s autonomy and feminism.
The book comes at a particularly significant time when Australia got its first hijab-wearing senator, Fatima Payman. In many emotional speeches, the Afghanistan-born has said that she wants to normalise wearing burqa in Australia.
“The Australian government and the wider community of protesting citizens will need to address the larger concerns raised by Payman,” adds Arafath.
The past, present and future
On 10 December, Australia imposed sanctions on Iran’s morality police and six Iranian individuals involved in the “violent crackdown on protests following the death of Amini and the continued oppression of the people of Iran”, the foreign affairs department said in a statement.
Arafath, however, feels that this may not necessarily put an end to the human rights violations against protesting women in Iran.
“Imposing sanctions is a very serious matter, and it requires equally serious reflection,” he explains. “Historically, when international sanctions have been imposed on any country, the outcomes have not necessarily matched the original intentions while imposing such sanctions.”
In context of their book, the editors explain how the lives of Muslim women have transitioned over the many years across the globe.
“If we take the history of Indian Muslim women from the late 19th century onwards, we find that the struggles for education, employment, or changing sartorial practices were often the results of women’s own activism,” Arunima shares. “Even though some progressive men within the community supported their cause, substantial changes in Muslim women’s lives could not have taken place unless they themselves pushed back against community and societal patriarchy.”
Therefore, she says, “it is important to remember that histories of violence or victimisation are accompanied by stories of courage and resistance”.
My body, my choice
A Lebanese-Australian of Islamic background, Nawal Suri had reacted strongly after France’s hijab ban last year. She said she was terrified to think that something she decided to wear on her head has caused so much chaos for so many.
Isn’t clothing a personal choice, we ask Arafath.
“Yes,” he responds. “Everyone should have the freedom to wear whatever makes them comfortable and confident. As our book shows, there are many reasons why women choose to wear the hijab, including religion, social class, familial upbringing, and the political desire to identify as Muslim. In a changing world, it is important that we remember that this intersection of reasons conditions Muslim women’s sartorial decisions.”
Many feminism conversations are about how women should be allowed to display as much skin as they like. But surely, the same goes the other way?
“Yes, if women want to cover up, they should be able to, and if they want to uncover, no one should have any issues,” adds Arunima.
So why is women’s clothing the centre of politics in many parts of the world?
“Regulating women’s clothing is closely tied to the control over women’s bodies, sexuality, and life choices,” Arunima continues. “This is done by the family, community, and society. Both religion and state are parties to this. This is not restricted to recent decades or only to politicians. On the contrary, we have innumerable examples from all over the world of women’s clothing being a source of struggle. For example, the shortening of ankle-length skirts in Europe in the first half of the 20th century was met with violence and ridicule by men.”
The book also discusses how the hijab has come in various styles and patterns over the years. However, hijabi women continue to remain excluded from fashion spaces.
“Since the fashion industry has very strong class dimensions and is also controlled by a few Euro-American fashion houses, changes in this will necessitate a profound rethinking of the industry’s politics. Should that happen, it would be possible to have far greater diversity within the fashion industry, and one that could accommodate differences,” Arafath says.