Prior Understanding of Veiling and Hijab - Essay Example

Part 1

Prior Understanding of Veiling and Hijab

Before reading ‘Mirror on the Veil a Collection of Personal Essays on Hijab and Veiling', I associated veiling and hijab with female Muslims. Specifically, I knew that it was a requirement for youthful ladies above ten years. I justified my comprehension with the fact that the ladies were expected to enhance their decency to regulate immorality. I thought that the religion considered the total covering of the women so that the male could not fall in the immoral behaviour of fornication due to lust, which is commonly caused by viewing an indecent female. The justification was also embarked on the fact that, small girls of less than ten years rarely have the attire consistently as those above ten. Besides, the covering is always enhanced to female in marriageable age, only leaving their eyes for seeing. This even hides their identity. I assumed that these were engaged ladies who were to be married soon, so they were to be protected even more to avoid interference with the engagement process.

History and Significance of veiling

After reading the book quoted above, I learnt a lot that changed my understanding of veiling and Hijab to some extent. First, I learnt that for the Muslim, it is a religious requirement hence an identity for female adults, though it is not as strict as I thought. One can just abide by it by choice and loyalty to the religion, and for those who avoid it, it comes with some level of guilt, about religion betrayal. Besides, I also learnt that veiling is also part of some sect of Christians, others also have it for fun. For Christians, it is mainly meant to enhance decency, of which in the current era, other alternatives of decency, other than hijab and veiling, has been applied. However, Muslim hold on it to date.

Secondly, I have learnt that the veil is a controversial cloth with many functions and forms, all of which are not related to religion; some are based on cultural diversity. For that reason, some countries like the European countries, have generated some laws that are against given forms of veiling such niqab and hijab. The laws have generated tension between non-Muslims and Muslims citizens, indicating how loyal some Muslim ladies are, in that they are willing to fight for their religious requirement. This has generated freedom fight about dressing and gender rights. Female Muslim have resorted to fighting for gender equity rather than gender equality. Gender equity relates to demanding for fairness between women and men. They intend to have equal treatment with fairness depending on their respective interest and needs. The secular females, on the other hand, counteract them by fighting for gender equality, in that they demand equal access for women and men to socially valued commodities and rewards. In this context, veiling has become a point of collision between the female Muslims and the secular females. From this controversy, I have deduced that Western feminist view is veiling as an oppression of the females, through body covering. The Islamic female, on the other hand, considers it to be a symbol of freedom for the female form objectification.

I have also learnt that the veil, considered a symbol of oppression, partially stems out from altitudes cultivated in the colonial era. This is because it is in that period that promotion of Eastern practices as sensual and exotic was enhanced. The Muslims' dress codes gained its popularity in 1970, as a response to the Western superiority notion and colonialism, which lingered. The intention behind the whole event was to enhance the regaining of power through the reintroduction of cultural values and norms which colonialism suppressed. The emergence of an Islamic identity which is visible in most countries was a symbol of decolonization of the ideals and return to cultural values; this was enhanced by the embrace of traditions that were disparaged systematically in the colonial era.

It was also a new knowledge that Muslims are growing up in the US were not willing to abandon their veiling culture totally amidst the high pressure from the westernised culture of dressing (Pasha-Zaidi & Pasha, 2017). They were forced to maintain two identities that of a Muslim by veiling up, and the secular western dress code as an American. The Western identity enhanced their public consumptions and the cultural identity, though was associated with minority, applied mainly at home or in informal setups.

I also discovered that the hijab and veiling became a symbol of political struggle after the twin tower incident (9/11), following the re-Islamization of women in the Muslim community. The women who had the attire had a prestige of being considered ambassadors of faith. In conclusion of this context, though the issue of dress code appears twice in the Muslim's holy book Quran, head veiling for a Muslim woman is considered as a part of Islamic pillar. Besides the other five pillars, it is considered the sixth. Therefore, the Muslim community considers hijab and veiling as an element of testing their faith, and a differentiator of the staunch Muslim women and the liberal ones.

Concepts from the two Textbooks

There are some concepts that appear in the textbooks that were reflected in the experience that I read in the ‘Mirror on the Veil'. For instance, in ‘The Psychology of Women' by Martin, a concern is raised pointing to the fact that, people react differently to women than to men (Matlin, 2012). About ‘Mirror on the Veil' this concern is confirmed in that, controversies arise about Muslim women dress code, and not their men, who also have their hijab. ‘Modern Misogyny: Anti-Feminism in a post-Feminist Era' on the other hand, has a concern that is also related to the ideas unveiled in the ‘Mirror on the Veil'. The textbook has raised the fact that most women, in the current generation, are not strict to their cultural requirements as it only considered them homeworkers. According to the text, women have embraced roles such as leadership, employees, among other roles (Anderson, 2014). This makes them be viewed as non-traditional, and most people develop a negative attitude towards them. The same case appears in the ‘Mirror on the Veil', where a concern is raised that a journalist (professional woman) could not be trusted, to be given the relevant information, while she was undertaking her research on ‘veiling and hijab' because her attire did not depict her identity as a Muslim. She was considered to be non-traditional, though she was a Muslim.

Part 2

The Reflection Paper

After reading ‘Barriers and Bias', I came to realise the wideness of gender in general leadership. This has been enhanced by various cultural beliefs enhancing the fact that women should not lead anywhere. Young girls have grown up in such societies, knowing that they should not lead. The book has, therefore, propelled the empowerment in women, to ignite their willingness and ability to lead (AAUW, 2016).

Jayachandra's (2014) work has also impacted me about the roots of gender inequality in developing countries. The fact that the inequality is portrayed in education, employment and in leadership among others, it is the main propellant of the underdevelopment in such countries. Hence, it is evident that gender inequality contributes to a country's underdevelopment. The cultural views upholding the gender inequality should be dropped, and equality is enhanced to raise the development levels of the affected countries.

Einstein's essay on science and religion also made a significant impression in my mind. This is someone who was considered a failure academically. However, his responsible belief in God, without relying on fate made him discover that he can write and be quoted constructively and relevantly. For instance, his essay on ‘Science and Religion' is quite factual based on several arguments that he raises (Eistein, 2017). Therefore, dependence on God comes with responsibility.

Splinter's essay on love is also moving in that wife and husband can stay for many years, but still, inquire from one another if they are loved. According to the essay, the rise of such a question is an indication of cultural transformation. In most cultures, women were treated mechanically, and were not respected but were regarded as homemakers and child bearers. But the emergence of questions like, ‘do you love me' (Splinter, 2017) in an evidence of the development of humility in men, and a reduction of arrogance, hence respect to women Cultural globalization is real.

Leadership is an environment of service. This a new knowledge that I developed after reading Hwakins's work (West et al., 1996). Initially, I thought that a leader is a boss seated to give orders and commands. The insight from the reading enabled me to discover my difficulty in the few leadership experiences that I have had. It was an exact opposite of what is unveiled in the essay. I have realised that servant leadership is prone to succeed that the bossy leadership.

Questions about death have never been answered adequately since no one has had the experience and come back to narrate. However, all related talks are based on imaginations and spiritualism. This has generated fear in many people on hearing the word ‘death', which makes some of the scholars (Immotality Insitute, 2004) to consider enhancing embrace of the word to promote voluntary death, that is, with acceptance and not denial. This will even keep the death issue away, as most people will not fear it. Fear in itself is a propellant of death.

Most of the girls living in sub-Saharan Regions, West and South Asia are not going to school, in comparison to boys. Writers have not left this out of their topic (Department of International Development, 2005). Their arguments relate closely to the fact that most families that do not allow girls not to go school are the poor. This is true because, in such African countries, females are considered to be a home labourer and has a man somewhere in the school, to marry them hence the females will have the benefits of the man's education in the future. This reduces women empowerment, which should not be the case. Women should go to school to be dependent, therefore those regions should be visited for the enhancement of girl-child education.

Technological development in the world has been enhanced by the prevalence of numerous access to social media. However, evil promoters have found opportunities in this set of technology to achieve some of their weird intentions. It is possible to have terrorism incident based on medial social information as highlighted by some scholars (Oh, 2013). I tend to blame the users of the social media, on their keenness on their usage of social media. They should use it in a manner that prevents such incidences from occurring. For sensitive information, more private means of communication can be utilised.

Another essay narrows down to look into the effect of social media in higher education (Selwyn, 2012). Since there are several negative effects of social media on the learners in a higher level of education, the essay has upheld several positive effects of the social media including keep the leaners informed relevantly and even easing their education. For the negative effects, I blame the users because it is all based on choice. It is, therefore, their self-control that should apply in determining the effectiveness of the social media.

On another essay, I also came to realise that since there are vast means of acquiring knowledge in the world today, a certain level of ignorance is vital. The main reason being, knowledge of some issues triggers the urge of wrongdoing, more so against the environment which has led to resource depletion (Uekotter & Lubken, 2013). This is true because without the knowledge the depletion can be prevented. However, this is not a lasting solution because the quest for knowledge enhances much discovery. Creating awareness of any negativity that trends in this context, helps more.

Reference

AAUW. (2016). Barriers and Bias. Washington, DC.: AAUW.

Anderson, K. (2014). Modern Misogyny: Anti-Feminism in a Post-Feminist. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Department of International Development. (2005). Girls' Education: towards a better future for all. London: DFID.

Eistein, A. (2017, October 11). Science and Religion. Retrieved from Science and Religion: http://www.westminster.edu/staff/nak/courses/Einstein%20Sci%20%26%20Rel.pdf

Immotality Insitute. (2004). The Science Conquest of Death. Librosenred.

Jayachandran, S. (2014). The Roots of Gender Inequality in Developing Countries. Northwestern University Press.

Matlin, M. (2012). The Psychology of Women. New York: WADSWORTH CENGAGE Learning.

Oh, O. (2013). Three Essays on thre Role of Social Media in Social Crises: A collective Sensemaking View. New York: State University of New York Press.

Pasha-Zaidi, N., & Pasha, S. (2017). Mirror on the Veil A Collection of Personal Essays on Hijab and veiling. Critical, Cultural and Communications Press.

Selwyn, N. (2012). Social Media in Higher Eduaction. London: Routledge.

Splinter, J. (2017, October 11). An Esaay On Love. Retrieved from https://www.professays.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Love-Essay-Sample.pdf

Uekotter, F., & Lubken, U. (2013). The Social Functions of Ignorance. New York.

West, T., Hawkins, B., Gleason, B., LeDuc, A., Heterick, R., Barone, C., & Battin, P. (1996). Reflections on Leadership. Colorado: Cause.