Wearing our identities

One of the group presentations of American voluntary organizations was about NOW: National Organization of Women.  That this group used their clothing as a part of their presentation was particularly appropriate since women's attire often serves as a mode of communication as well as providing cover for the body.  In mid-2oth century USA women wearing pants rather than skirts could be, often was, a statement that provoked controversy.

In our time "the veil" continues to provoke controversy as a symbol of women's identity.  At issue: does Islam require it?  are women free to choose it for themselves or are they forced to wear it?  to what degree is this a matter of rejecting "modern," "western" values and to to what degree a matter of affirming Muslim piety?  Which sort of veil is enough?  How is its symbolic significance inflected by context?  (In this matter I think of high school girls showing up at a pep rally wearing hijab in their school colors.)

Pamuk's Snow, a novel set in eastern Turkey, portrays the changing symbolic value of the head scarf from the years of Ataturk and the early Republic into the late 20th century.  Now Lelia Ahmed offers us a more comprehensive study of the veil in her book A Quiet Revolution.  This review and the fact that I enjoyed her memoir of growing up in Egypt make me interested to take a look: The review.