Headscarves: The Wrong Battle

Excluding Muslim women who wear headscarves from the public sphere does nothing for gender
equality or peaceful integration - by Gauri van Gulik - March 14, 2009

Throughout Europe, over the past decade, there has been a loud - and at times openly
xenophobic - debate about whether a Muslim woman should be allowed to wear a headscarf
while on duty in a government job. Various types of bans have been enacted in several
countries, including France, Germany, and Turkey.
Some feminists seek these bans in the name of helping Muslim women, whom they often
see as uniformly oppressed. Anti-immigration politicians seek these policies because they
see people who refuse to "fit in" as a threat to western society. But these arguments are
detrimental both to women's rights and to peaceful integration, and the women most likely
to be affected are rarely consulted.
"I suddenly felt like a stranger in Germany," one elementary school teacher said, describing
her reaction to a ban in her state. "I will never forget that."
She was one of many people interviewed by Human Rights Watch in Germany, where 8 of
16 federal states have these bans for teachers (in two states the ban also covers other civil
servants). Some of these laws are openly discriminatory, banning religious symbols, but
excluding symbols of "Christian heritage." Other German bans appear to be neutral, but
almost exclusively affect Muslim women.
To be sure, some women and girls are coerced into wearing the headscarf in the name of
Islam, just as some are coerced into wearing long skirts, wigs, or other clothing, in the
name of Judaism, Christianity, and other religions. The state is obligated to help its citizens
avoid coercion. However, our experience and research tell us that oppression cannot be
uprooted by a state itself coercing the victims, but rather through education, access to justice
and economic opportunity. Women's rights are about autonomy. And real autonomy means
freedom to make choices whether others like these or not.
Some supporters of these bans maintain that wearing a headscarf is inherently demeaning.
They contend that a headscarf-wearing teacher is unable to promote gender equality and
freedom of choice among her students. But these well-meaning arguments run counter to
the very tenet of gender equality: women's ability to make decisions about their lives
without interference from the state or others.
Indeed, our research in Germany shows that these laws do nothing to support the wearers'
autonomy. All of the women we spoke to told us they had freely chosen to wear it. But the
bans do them harm, leaving them unable to work in the jobs they had chosen, and causing
them to lose financial independence.
The argument to ban the headscarf in the name of "cultural integration," is at times
expressed as open hostility toward non-white, or non-Judeo-Christian, immigrants. A less
offensive variant is based on deep concern for the rapidly changing cultural landscape in
Europe and an attempt to address the very real problems these changes are generating.
But banning the headscarf is the worst possible policy response to the need to bring people
into mainstream society. Our research showed that the ban serves to exclude, rather than
include. Many women we talked to felt alienated by the bans, even though some had lived
in Germany for decades or even their entire lives. Some left their home state or left
Germany altogether, some took prolonged leaves, and some highly trained teachers left the
profession. "They have now a promotional program for migrant women to study and
become a teacher," one woman said. "Here I am, take me!"
The notion that a teacher wearing a headscarf cannot be a good example for the girls in her
class is very far from my personal experience. About half the children in my high school in
Tilburg, in the Netherlands, were Moroccan or Turkish. One of my teachers wore a
headscarf, as did some of the girls. This teacher always explained that making one's own
choices based on arguments and beliefs is essential. She made her choice regarding the
headscarf and she urged the girls in class to do the same. I came away with a commitment to
women's human rights and a sense of dignity that is part of who I am.
Gender equality and peaceful integration should be prime objectives for anyone concerned
with public policy. These objectives are not met by excluding women who make a choice to
cover their hair.

After reading: answer the following questions.

1) Why do some people (feminists among them) want to impose bans on the wearing of
headscarves?

Anti-immigration politicians do so argumenting that their reluctance to adapt to the

mainstream is threatening to their culture. Feminists contend the use of the headscarves is a
symbol of patriarchal oppression.

2) Why do some people consider these bans discriminatory?

The ban ends up being detrimental to women’s rights and freedom. To avoid religious
coercion they end up being coerced by the state and the government. These well-meaning
arguments run counter to the very tenet of gender equality: women's ability to make
decisions about their lives without interference from the state or others.

3) Why, according to some Muslim women, banning headscarves does not foster gender
equality?
They feel alienated and forced to leave their jobs, thus losing financial independence, which
is, in my opinion, more detrimental to their freedom than wearing the headscarf.

4) According to the writer, how can a Muslim teacher wearing a headscarf be a good model
of freedom of choice for her students?
By using the headscarf the teacher is showing through her actions the tenets of gender
equality, since she is defending her right to choose.