Freedom through Hijab?

In last weeks's Saturday New York Times (May 26 front page) there's an article on Algerian women on the front page. [A Quiet Revolution in Algeria: Gains by Women by Michael Slackman - if you have a .edu address you can get TimeSelect for free by the way]. It talks about how women consitute the majority of University students, as they do in many countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran, but in Algeria they are also coming to dominate professional and administrative jobs and contribute more to family income than men. This is all very cool, but the reason I bring up a week-old article (news on the internet goes staler quicker than baguettes) is this:

"Sociologists and many working women say that by adopting religion and wearing the Islamic head covering called the hijab, women here have in effect freed themselves from moral judgements and restrictions imposed by men. Uncovered women are rarely seen on the street late at night, but covered women can be seen strolling the city after attending the evening prayer at the mosque."

In the hijab "debate", many people have a knee-jerk reaction: see a covered woman, scream "oppression!". The hijab has become short hand for all that is wrong and backward about the Arab world or Islam (take your pick). Just look at the Turkish army freaking out over the possibility of a woman who wears the veil in the presidential palace.

But obviously it's more complicated than that, which is why both the West's and Islamists' fetishization of the veil is so frustrating. I can understand why many people object to the veil. In a way it defines a woman's body purely by its sexuality, which of course must be hidden away. Of course, in Iraq now men are getting killed for wearing shorts so it's not always such a double standard.

I'm hardly one against sexual liberation, but we need to remind ourselves that wearing a bikini in public isn't the only type manifestation of liberation. Clothing in some culture is more conservative than in others, but you never hear any one making a fuss about Tibetan women's modest clothing. Women in Algeria chose to wear the scarf or not, and some of those that chose to wear it do so because of the freedom it grants them. In Egypt, I was told that no one would touch a muhigaba (woman in hijab) so I stuck one in my purse in case I went home late at night. I hardly ever used it, though my arrival back home often coincided with the morning call to prayer (around 4am).

Women are gaining more access to school, government administration, and law (the article states that 70% of Algeria's lawyers are women and 60% of its judges). I don't give a shit if they're doing it in a hijab or naked.