Dress Being a Marker of National Identity - Coursework Example

Dress being a marker of national identity Dress as a national identity The type of dressing or simply dress code is particularly significant when it comes to identity in a particular society or nation. It tracks back to centuries ago where the type of dressing was associated with a society’s culture or taboo. However, back in the modern days, there seems to be many societies and nations that have abandoned this norms or myths. These periodic changes have been influenced by the social influences, mostly from other societies that are perceived to be more modernized1. Even though most of these changes have taken place, there are still other nations that have maintained the type of dressing up to date, and this is due to some strong belief as a result of the dress code. A classification of these dress codes is usually created for wavering levels of reserve and at times the time of day. Such instances include the traditional Western culture of dressing where different gender’s dress styles portrayed the type of work and even status. In real instances, the type of dress is either followed naturally or influenced by peer pressure. This is to why people within a specific nation or society wear the same clothing in the same condition. In this analysis, this paper will concentrate on specific dress codes and the reasons they are still makers of national identity. The Veil The veil is a very old type of dressing that was mostly associated with the Islamic society. It, however, originates from the ancient European society. This included Greeks, Romans, Hittites and Persians. In addition, the Assyrian culture also wore this type of dressing. Looking at the Assyrian beliefs of the veil, it was associated with class and also gender inferences. The first recorded time it was used was with the Assyrian women back in the 13th century.2 During this period, an Assyrian veil was meant to bring class distinction and in fact the Assyrian law prohibited farmhand women and even prostitutes from putting it on. The women who went against this particular law of wearing the veil were heavily punished. In the Persia community, those women who went to public meetings were supposedly required to wear the veil. The wealthy and high class Persians used it to hide their ladies from the public eye. In a matter of years of spread, the veil then spread throughout Middle East, amidst the Persian downfall. During the colonial regime in northern Africa, women wore veils by force as a sign of their opposition against the French, who wanted them to remove them and copy the French customs and laws. This, as a result, became a symbol of identity among the Algerian and the rest of Middle East and North Africa ladies3. The veil was strongly worn during the time of independence and the country’s national movement. In addition, during the 1970s, dissatisfaction of the ever increasing European effects had grown among many of the Iranians, and resulted to lots of Iranians turning to religion and dressing of the veil as an indication of a new social shift.4 This influence was felt and also adopted by other cultures that included the Egyptians and the Turkey nationals. As a matter of fact, a lot of Muslim women adopted the head scarf as a symbol of pride in their religious teachings and faith. This is particularly seen in times when the Islam community is being attacked by the Christian or other non-Muslim faiths. This is a modest manner of them saying, “I am proud and happy to be a Muslim lady and I demand respect from all”5. This, therefore, becomes a significant statement in the Muslim world, particularly, in times when they are facing criticism and threats from the rest of the world. For most of this women, wearing a head scarf implies being trustworthy. In some Muslim settings, where the veil is not a big issue, intentional choices are made by some sections of the society, particularly those ladies who had never worn the veil6. Some veils like the black chador received immense support from most women in Lebanon. It was seen as a symbol of belonging to the various society settings. In some other countries such as Kuwait, wearing a veil symbolized a sense of freedom. In some like the Gulf States, it was worn voluntarily.7 The young Muslim ladies, particularly those from the third group North African settler’s communities and France, the veil to them has been adopted as a means of reacting to the French colonists. They view the French people as dictators who never appreciated their ways of living. In job application, the Muslims are rejected when private agencies that recruit applicants contact interviews. The Muslims have also been sidelined and victimized when it comes to owning places and also renting houses8. Some of the Muslims PhD holders have ended up being bus drivers and also security guards in places such as retail shops. This is simply because of victimization experienced when applying for specialized jobs. In the French nation, Muslim women wear the veil as a symbol of acquiring a Muslim identity. In addition, this is a message that they are no longer enslaved in the French society. Ahmed Leila critically analyzed both the West Muslim women and those from the Arab society9. She came to the view that, the veil symbolized modesty among many of the women in both settings and this was mainly mentioned in the Quran.10 Leila also came to the view that, the veil offers protection from sexual force; that it is a political declaration and reaffirmation of Islam and a sense of pride in the Islam world. Leila accused the different academic activists on the Western Universities who were of the view that veils are a symbol of liberation of the Muslim lady. She further criticized those who dismissed charges of sexual cruelty as snobbish, western thoughts. She thus argues that most Muslim men would exploit this clause and, therefore, take advantage of the innocent ladies who are confused with their distinctiveness. Her take is that, any attempt to imply that the veil is a symbol of empowerment might deny women their deserved rights and thus encourage victimization11. According to many researchers of the veil’s significance, it is impractical, pointless and counter-productive to both oppose and support the wearing of a veil. All the decisions should rest on the Muslim women as they also have the right and freedom of their own12. The veil as a symbol of political accounts The veil has over time played an important role as an item of rivalry between the French and Algerians. The Algerian regime used the veil, for instance, to hide weaponries. It was, thus, a transformation into a strategy of concealment and a means of tussle. The Algerian women used the veil to try to hide the package from the eyes of the dwellers. Some American historians view the banning of the veil by the French as a way of maintaining their superiority on civilization in the surface of the modernized world.13 During the Algerians war, women were placed in impossible situations as they were targets of both forces that included the radical Islamists. Some scholars were in the view that, Algeria is the only state where women are victimized and even killed because of simply being women. Women have died out of wearing veils and not wearing. This is enough evidence of women being symbols of Islamic legitimacy and newness. This similar picture is being witnessed in countries such as Iran, whose religious beliefs have campaigned for women to wear Hijabs. Women who refused to wear the hijab were detained, fined or even imprisoned.14 The regimes determinations proved fruitless as the female advocates of the various movements for socially true Muslim women had already marketed the modern Islamic style of dressing. The sexual connotation of the Iranian commands political policy to manipulate women to go back to the traditional role received much attention from the secular West. In countries such as Egypt, veil dress code began to get political meaning as it was an act of defiance towards the huge secular self that was being popularized, in 1980’s15. With these incidences, the Egyptian authorities streaked Muslim women wearing veils from stepping into the any campus vicinity. It is, therefore, important to argue that, the Islamists dress bore the social message that a woman could maintain a job without neglecting her duties as a mother. The veil in addition meant that it was a means of women affirming some strength over the vague moral state created by new social manipulations and criticism16. The veil as a symbol of privacy and modesty Wearing a veil was essentially associated with the significance of privacy, and specifically the female secrecy, in the Islamic setting. All Islam cultures share a deeply rooted sense of personal secrecy or privacy. The Islamic homes for instance have two separate pitches within which the traditional acts take place. This separation between houses was commonly referred by Persians as the (biruni) exterior, where it was a place to receive all guests. The interior (andaruni),17 was left for the family and especially women who maintained their privacy through veils. Therefore, the word or symbol for a veil was a tent. Wearing veils portrayed the notion of hallowed privacy, which was an idea of maintaining the society’s pride and belonging. In addition, the Islamic hair was not only meant for beauty but viewed as an important part of the body that could whet male sexual desires18. Therefore, being able to cover the head, it served to protect the woman’s familiarity and also maintain her reservation19. Notably, in the Indian culture, an anthropologist from British remarked on the distinguished contrast between the British and the Indian concepts in relationship to women’s appearance and dressing and female modesty. He observed that, the high class north Indian ladies, both Muslim and also Hindu, modest conduct revolved around the head and face and it was a must for it to be covered. A woman would dress in a way that was less revealing. If a male was to enter into the female zones, the women would instantly cover their faces with the veil or scarf, unless the man was seen as a younger brother20. If any woman was to go to a public place, she would have to cover her whole body. British ladies, on the other hand, only covered their heads and bodies when outside their homes as a means of protecting themselves from the sun and later on just for the sake of being modest. However, she would not try so much to cover her face when out in public. The veil as a depiction of Gender Political control, identity and legitimacy have been the key symbols of representation of feminist. They paint the picture of how the social characteristics of both women and women are brought about. They bring the issues of what is considered legitimate and what is not. In addition, it points out the reasons as to why it enables some subjects not to have any contribution in politics. The veil In Islam is a symbol of lack of appreciation on women, mostly in the political arena. In Islam countries such as Iran where the veil is imposed on women,21 those perceived to disobey the rules of wearing the veil are viewed as bad patriots of the Muslim nation. It, therefore, symbolizes the different national values and personalities. In addition, a veil is also viewed as a symbol of gender and racial construction of the nation where the regulation of Muslim women bodies is used as a way to control the entire Muslim community that is seen as a treat. In a final exclusive description, the veil signifies a sign of reluctance to integrate, violating state cultures on how to develop good citizenship and the responsibilities associated to a political society which rests on the individual citizen. Bibliography Ahmed, Leila. A Quiet Revolution: The Veils Resurgence, from the Middle East to America. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011. Bowen, John R. Why the French Dont Like Headscarves: Islam, the State, and Public Space. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2007. Eicher, Joanne Bubolz. Dress and Ethnicity: Change Across Space and Time. Oxford: Berg, 2005. Khan, M. A. Muqtedar. Debating Moderate Islam: The Geopolitics of Islam and the West. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2007. Secor, Ann J. "The veil and urban space in Istanbul: women’s dress, mobility andIslamic knowledge." Gender, Place and Culture 9, no. 1 (2002): 5-22. Read More