Through the Veil

In my English class, we are reading a memoir called "Reading Lolita in Tehran" by Azar Nafisi. With a group of Islamic women, Azar Nafisi teaches forbidden Western classics and explores the connections between the characters in the novels and the Islamic women. This powerful memoir demonstrates the tyranny in Iran coinciding with the liberating literature.

"Reading Lolita in Tehran" heavily discusses the role of appearance in the lives of Iranian women. Nafisi, the author, was fired from the University of Tehran for refusing to wear a veil. Through her book group, Nafisi allows the women to shed their mandatory veils and robes, loosen their hair and relax without the oppressive nature of the Revolutionary Guard, who constantly criticize women for their appearance. In both "Persepolis,"a movie we watched for both Social Studies and English, as well as "Reading Lolita in Tehran," women are punished for wearing colorful socks, as they are seen as "sexually appealing," a threat in Islamic culture. Listening to the perspective of Islamic women on the veil has opened my eyes to the complexity of the veil debate.

Currently, politicians across the world are discussing where women should be allowed to wear veils. This controversy brings up a multitude of questions and viewpoints. While some view the veil as limiting, other see it as empowering. The cloth is assigned so many different roles in society that it is difficult to understand its true purpose. From Texas to Paris, the veil has gained prominence and been the center of attention of court rulings, workplace issues, and debates on whether or not it should be banned.

Ultimately, it is important to recognize both viewpoints in the veil debate in order to better understand why such controversy has been brought to the floor in the first place. Many non-Muslims involved in the debate view the veil has a symbol of repression. This idea is especially prominent in societies like Iran and Saudi Arabia, where women have second class status to men. Many Muslim women, however, believe that by wearing the veil they are following God's wish. In addition, many Muslims believe that wearing the veil is a way of staying true to their culture and rejecting Western temptations.

An Islamic girl protests her right to wear the veil.

I have found it difficult for myself to pick a specific view on the veil debate because I am not familiar with what it is like to wear a veil. I cannot even imagine what it is like to have restrictions on what I wear, especially from a government source. As readers, I hope that you have learned more about the impact of veiling. I would like to hear your thoughts on the veil debate and question "To what extent does our appearance impact who we are?"