Do not judge us by our ‘cover’

It is troubling that in the West, women, even Muslim women, are still judged by what they wear, writes Shelina Janmohamed

It was a deep midwinter’s evening, many years ago. I was wrapped up in my long black winter coat, black boots and my warmest headscarf, which also happened to be black. I was taking part in a panel discussion on Islam and women at one of London’s prestigeous universities, and the debate was open to the public.

Soon after the event, I was confronted by a member of the audience: “Why do you people always wear black?” I’m usually known for my unwaveringly pink- and purple-toned wardrobe, so the misdirected yet barely concealed hostility shocked me. But it wasn’t me she was concerned with, but Muslim women in general.

The description of Muslim women as “you people” is common. It conflates what we wear, our individuality and our huge global variation into one dehumanised other. Even worse is that, people refuse to see Muslim women’s identities beyond the clothes they wear. No matter how much we protest at this reductive behaviour by demonstrating our opinions, choices and achievements, they go unheard.

So this week it was refreshing to hear Sophie, Countess of Wessex, speak out to diffuse this stereotype. She told the women’s fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar that women from the Islamic world could be stylish and modest at the same time. She said that under a burqa, a woman is likely to wear “something really quite fashionable”. After meeting representatives of the Islamic Fashion Festival, she said: “It’s very evident that Muslim women can be fashionable while also retaining their modesty ... And it’s a great way of bringing people together, and saying, ‘Look, this is what we’re really like’.”

Positive stories about Muslim women’s attire are so rare that my first instinct is to welcome her comments, to welcome those voices that attempt to give depth and dimension to Muslim women. What Muslim women wear is viewed with so much open and unashamed hostility that it seemed to be a great comment.

Yet I’m troubled, frustrated even. That’s because the only parameter Muslim women are being judged by here is still what they wear. And I think Muslim fashion is an interesting development in the Muslim woman’s self-expression, a space governed by the faith they hold dear and the modernity that is inherent to their beings, but it’s still about clothing. Does it really matter if we are stylish or not? And even if clothing is unfashionable, so what? If anything in the global feminist discourse women are constantly battling the pressures of the fashion industry, to look and behave in a particular way. By contrast, the British Journal of Psychology published a study this summer showing Muslim women who wear the headscarf and modest clothes have a more positive body image than their peers.

So while Sophie’s words are welcome, the question is this: why should the words of non-Muslim women carry greater weight than those of Muslim women?

We say the same things over and over again. We just need people to listen to us and realise that our opinions are as thought-out and as measured as anyone else’s. As Muslim women would say, the veil might cover my hair, but it doesn’t cover my brain.

Shelina Zahra Janmohamed is the author of Love in a Headscarf and blogs at www.spirit21.co.uk