Veiled Muslim Women: Misconceptions and Oppression in the West

Now more than ever the Muslim faith is being put into the spotlight. America continues attempts at banning 7 Muslim majority countries from entering the country. With all this negative publicity, there has been an increase in hate crimes towards Muslim people. It is often hard to tell a person’s faith just by their appearance. However, women who practice Islam are required to wear veils which cover their hair. By wearing the veil these women are susceptible to hate crimes since they can be identified as practicing Muslims. Additionally, in the Western society the women who wear the veil are often seen as oppressed. Homa Hoodfara, a professor at Concordia University, discusses the Western Societies’ views on veiled Muslim women in her article The Veil in their Minds and On Our Heads: The Persistence of Colonial Images of Muslim Women. In this article Homa discusses the negative interpretation that the Western society has on the veil. She also explains how these negative views contribute to prejudice views and the discrimination of veiled women. Lastly, Homa tries to explain how veiled Muslim women and women in general living in the Western society both suffer from female oppression.

Due to this fact, multiple restrictions were placed on the wife’s actions and behaviors, also these restrictions were stricter with wealthy families (Hoodfar, n.d.). However, poorer families did not exhibit these same strict restrictions since all women were required to work. Homa also explains how the veiling of Muslim women initially began as an indication of a woman’s social status. Due to this then veil becames a cultural, or social practice, that was adopted by Muslims and was perpetuated for the most part for financial purposes” (Haniffa, p.65). The veil also allowed families to delegate the distribution of their wealth via marriage and