The ruling AK Party in Turkey, its power reaffirmed by the recent elections, is moving forward with its agenda. On this agenda,
along with reviewing and possibly abolishing the laws that criminalize "insulting Turkish identity", is lifting the ban on women wearing headscarves at public universities.
The headscarf debate is a complex one. Women have been covering their head in some way or another for reasons of modesty for a long time, not only in Turkey and in other Muslim countries, but in Europe as well. The head scarf tied simply around the hair is a style seen all across Eurasia, and I think most people in the world would be hard pressed to distinguish a traditional village Turkish woman from a traditional Ukrainian or Hungarian woman. This style of head covering, which often is loose enough to show some hair around the edges, is still very common in Turkey, especially in the countryside.
Below are headscarved women from the three countries just mentioned.
Of course, the difference is, most women in Hungary and the Ukraine no longer cover their heads, and an estimated 50% of all Turkish women do today. Furthermore, many of the young Turkish women cover their hair not in the traditional way that their mothers and grandmothers did, but rather, in a very conscious, strict, sometimes fashion-forward, and some say political way.
This style typically uses a colored silk scarf that covers all hair and the neck, and is often worn with a bland, loose overcoat that disguises the female form. Of course there is much variation on this theme... I have seen women that are completely "covered" technically, but their clothing is tight, sparkly, sexy, and just as attention-seeking than any mini-skirt. But generally the "look" that is associated with a conscious, political Islam influenced woman is something like what is seen in the following photograph:
And as you might expect, this look is not seen as much in the countryside, as it would be too cumbersome and hot for the agricultural work that the majority of women are engaged in. It is very much a modern, urban phenomenon.
The exact reasons behind a woman's decision to cover are complex and vary between individuals. Often within one family one sister covers while the other does not, or a mother covers while a daughter does not, or a daughter covers while her mother does not. Groups of young women on the street, laughing and socializing, can be seen to have representatives of both scarved and un-scarved women, whose lives are are not as segregated as one might think.
An American friend of mine who lives in Istanbul said to me that she just couldn't understand why any woman who had the choice not to wear a headscarf would elect to do so. I think this issue needs to be depoliticized temporarily and looked at from an anthropological perspective, as dissociated from our own cultural values as is humanly possible.
I think we can all agree that there is a concept called "modesty" which can be seen expressed in different behaviors and in varying degrees in many cultures around the world. For example, the European woman who is not uncomfortable at all sunbathing topless in public is practically an alien from the perspective of the more prudish-in-matters-of-nudity American woman.
Even between members of the same culture there is variance in modesty. Some women have never worn a low-cut shirt or short shorts for their whole lives, while some women make their breasts the focal point of any outfit they have on.
I really don't see why, political associations aside, covering or not covering ones hair should be seen as any different from any other wardrobe choice based on the individuals personal comfort level.
Of course, the scarf does have religious and political connotations.
It is said that "women should not be allowed to wear headscarves in public university because it is a political statement and they represent a movement that is counter to the secular status quo". It seems to me that the reason why the headscarf became a political symbol was precisely because it was prohibited.
This is a country where only in 2005, following several years of AK party majority rule, were restrictions on teaching the Koran eased. The content of religious education is completely controlled by the government.
There is an argument about slippery-slope coming from the secularists who say if we give them an inch, tomorrow we'll be Iran. The thing is, repressing people's religious freedoms historically has not done anything but radicalized and politicized the groups who feel disenfranchised.
It will be better for Turkey if the daughters of more socially conservative and religious families go to university in larger numbers. Isolating these girls is only making things worse.
I hope that the AK party is able to use their power right now to make some changes that give Turkish people the freedoms that they want. But I also hope they do it in a responsible way that doesn't give credence to those who are questioning their motives.
