Analysing the position of female Muslims in patriarchal society and their choice of donning hijab amidst socio-political context.

Abstract

Discourse on Muslim women’s oppression in the context of Muslim and non-Muslim countries discuss on various media and academic debates. These discussions heavily focus on their position in Islamic society, their interpretation within feminism, and larger discussions regarding donning Hijab and Islamophobia. Primarily, the adaptation of Hijab as a garment most of the time refers from religious to social pressure and relates to political ideologies. This article combines the stories and facts beyond those narratives finding identities which are entirely personal when it comes to donning the hijab. This analysis base on the theories ‘Orientalism’, ‘Male gaze’ and books such as Mohanty’s Under Western Eyes,  The Headscarf Controversies by Hilal Elver, Beyond the Veil by Fatema Mernissi, Islam vs Islamism by Peter R Demant, etc and the primary discussion with five students from different Muslim countries living in the UK. Through those discussions, tradition and ethnicity appear as having a significant influence on religious practices. However, factors such as one’s cultural context or geographical location were also discussed as relevant to their decision. This article explores the fact the donning of Hijab or covering oneself should be a woman's personal choice and right and lately, how it becomes a communicative gesture in a public space. Through comparative studies on the adaptation of Hijab in Patriarchal society it explains Muslim woman’s subjectivity towards hijab is not away from political connotations.