Developing communities, or unveiling them

I spent a few weeks in Tunisia where I was introduced to the three pillars around which the modern state of Tunisia was built; independence, education, and the freedom of women. I was told that veiled women are looked down on, because they are thought of as signs of primitiveness. So as a step towards civilization and development, Alhijab is constantly being fought in the Tunisian community.

In a larger picture, the whole world seems to think that a veiled woman signifies a community where the will of women is being constrained, which in turn stands for primitive cultures. I vividly remember that Laura Bush said after 9/11 that it’s time for Afghan women to take their Burqas off and go to school.

I’m not all for veiling women in tent-like cloths like Talibans do, but I can’t understand why is it that the picture of a veiled woman is constantly being juxtaposed to a retarded culture. Why couldn’t the state of Tunisia, Afghanistan, or otherwise concentrate on educating women and developing their choices in life, regardless of the way they dress, or whether or not they choose to cover their bodies?

The underlying hypothesis that a woman chooses to cover her body only as a result of male-dominance and dictation is instigated by the Saudi community, but is also wrongfully generalized to all Muslim communities, where women choose Alhijab out of free will. The stereotype does wrong not only to the concept from which Alhijab stems, but also to the minds and intellects of the women who choose it freely. Since girls are brought up to think of beauty as their point of strength and preference, a woman who gives up the enjoyment of showing off her beauty for a higher more soul-fulfilling need must be a woman of deeper intellect. And she can only opt for what she thinks is the fulfillment of her needs under a free system that gives her the right to choose without degradation or contempt. In this perspective, I can only see the Saudi communal methodology as one end of a spectrum where at the other end lies the Tunisian methodology. Those who deprive women of their right to choose impose their ways, but those who claim to free women are also imposing their ways. And in both cases, a non-existent relationship has been created and established through the media between the percentage of veiled women and a community’s cultural development.

If we take modern Amman for an example, that I think would be in the middle of the spectrum, we will see that the growing number of veiled women can only be explained by two reasons; first: the high number of educated women in the community which develops their intellects and life choices, and second: the degree of freedom given to Jordanian women. This proves that educating women and their social freedom are not negative functions of their veiling. But if international media seem keen on emphasizing the relationship, then their must be other ends in the minds of those who put it forward in the first place.