Underneath The Veil
Underneath the Veil
In the Middle East, a Moslem woman wearing head and body coverings isn't anything out of the ordinary. In fact, it is a way of life for them in many aspects. Just ask the author of the writing, The Afghan Woman's "Chaadaree": An Evocative Religious Expression?, and she'll tell you. Her name is M. Catherine Daly and she is an Afghani herself. She talks about what it's like for women in Afghanistan to wear "veils". The veil is a much more meaningful piece of clothing than a person would think it to be.
In some ways the "veils", or burqas, are known for their cultural divisions. In other ways, they are meant to be worn for religious and social reasons. This is demonstrated during hejab, their head and body covering practices. The hejab shows the religious aspects of clothing, rather than the cultural side. Wearing it shows where they stand with their religion and being Moslem. It is also closely related to purdah, otherwise known as female seclusion.
Along with wearing the burqa comes a misconception. There are several different styles of coverings. Their variations in coverings are similar to the different styles of clothes we wear. If we are going out in public we would dress much nicer than if we were in the comfort of our own home. They wear their full body coverings for a reason similar to ours. The Moslem women prefer to be as private as they are at home,
and for this reason they cover themselves. The most admired covering of theirs is the chaadar, which is worn by the women as their everyday clothing. It is a partial head
covering and they only wear it when they're out in public. They will also wear it after their pilgrimage to Mecca and during their five daily prayers. They wear the chaadaree too, or the full-body covering that is pleated and worn with the chaadar. Its level of admiration is the same as the chaadars. The purpose of it is to cover the entire body from the view of...
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