Egyptian Women Choose the Veil or Hijab

On my way home from the American University of Cairo campus I noticed a billboard advertising something called the Middle Beast. A rock band maybe, or a new brand of distressed denim clothing. It made me smile. Living in Egypt is so extravagantly different from what seem to be the American notions about it that I hardly know where to begin talking about it, but I am going to plunge into one of the most visible and widely misunderstood subjects available: Egyptian women and the veil.

Actually the hijab, or head covering, worn by many Egyptian women is not a veil at all, but a scarf. For that matter it isn't just a scarf, either, but a whole range of possible configurations of cloth, many of them stunningly beautiful and almost all of them very attractive. Why the translation of the word hijab into English turned out to be "veil" I have no idea. I suppose there's something exotic and foreign and concealing about the word "veil" that seems appropriate to the westerner's determination to misunderstand and misrepresent everything about the Middle Beast.

As long as I'm on the subject of what the hijab is not, I will also mention that despite the reams of feminist literature devoted to the subject, it is not evidence of oppression and female subjugation to the local males of the species. And despite the equal amount of sociological and cultural examination devoted to this subject, it does not seem primarily a political statement.
Neither is the wearing of the hijab a religious observation, although westerners associate it with Islamic practices. The whole veiling practice had its origin not in religious practice but in the Veblenesque impulse to achieve status by conspicuous consumption. And it predates Islam by many centuries. It worked like this: only the very wealthy in these ancient lands could afford the sort of elaborate establishment that had separate quarters for women and children. This separate part of the household, known as the harem, kept the women secluded from the sight of anyone but their men folk. The veil, at that time actually a veil that covered the face, was the way this seclusion could be taken outside the harem.

The lower classes, of course, went about their business as best they could, working in the fields or as servants of the wealthy, living in cramped quarters that did not admit of the luxury of separate space for separate sexes. To be veiled, then, was to claim upper class status, membership in the wealthy and privileged classes. As Margot Badran, a feminist social historian observed, "Veiling and the harem system were social conventions connected with economic standing. They had nothing whatever to do with Islam."

In fact, by the end of the 19th Century, it was not women in the feminist movement in Egypt, but men who were Muslim clerics who were speaking out against the practice of veiling. Qasim Amin, a lawyer and appellate court judge, wrote The Liberation of Women, published in Cairo in 1899, telling his readers that not only did Islam not require women to veil, but that veiling and seclusion were counter to the Koran's teaching about the rights of women.

So why are young Egyptian women in great numbers wearing the hijab? The most obvious answer is that the hijab seems primarily an esthetic opportunity-a major weapon in women's determination to be attractive. It is also a specifically Egyptian way of being attractive, and therefore a part of the very obvious pleasure and joy that Egyptians take in being Egyptian, but the fact that the hijab has this cultural dimension in no way detracts from its decorative splendors.

There are so many possible configurations of the cloth head coverings that collectively bear the name hijab, that it is not possible to describe them all, but there are recognizable categories. The simplest is like the bandana worn in the U.S. on bad hair days, or to protect the hair during intense scrubbing or painting episodes. The square cloth is folded into a triangle with the folded edge over the forehead and the two ends tied behind the neck. Another very simple covering is a very large square piece of fabric that covers the head, pins beneath the chin, and covers the body all the way to mid thigh. The effect is like a hooded cape, Little Red Riding Hood style. Some of these are actually stitched up the front to the hole for the head so all the wearer has to do is put them on and stick the face through the hole. But very few are that simple.

A variation of the basic bandana configuration winds around a bun, or simulates a bun, at the back of the neck before tying. Also in this category are ready made hats, rather like turbans, which have the shape of the bandana-with-bun combination.
More frequently seen are complicated foldings and drapings, secured with tiny little pins with round tops, the pins usually color coordinated with the material.

After covering the hair above the forehead, or most of it, the material folds forward, like the mitered edge of a sheet on a hospital bed and from there drapes under the chin and to one side in graceful folds. Very often there will be two contrasting pieces of material, one edging the face like a mat on a water color painting and the other, the larger piece of fabric, next to it. There are more elaborate folds where the two contrasting edges repeat further back so the mat edge reappears like a stripe. And of course the colors are repeated in the rest of the outfit, the blouse or tunic, the skirt or pants.

There are also ways of folding the fabric around the face to provide the most flattering shape that will emphasize the best features of the face. A diamond shape is lovely to frame a face with high cheekbones and a small pointed chin. A perfect oval is best suited for regular features with rounded cheeks and chin.