The Veil and its relevance to the work I am producing

The Islamic veil and concept of modesty, privacy and resistance.

The western assumption of the veil and its traditional use view the aspect of the veil as patriarchies and a sign of women’s backwardness, subordination and oppression. This uni dimensional approach narrows the study of the veil to single context analysis and leads to a distorted view of a complex cultural phenomenon.

The etymology of a term like “veil” has the meaning assigned to it as “a covering,” in the sense of “to cover with” or “conceal or disguise other ways of explanation are:

- covering in the sense of cover

- covering in the sense of shade

- modes of communication a sense of disguise, concealment, conceal or concealed, deception and sham.

The last on the lust is of the veil becoming a sign of signification.

In terms of putting this research into the wider context of my project it can be seen that the act of seclusion and veiling is a phenomena of bewilderment to why people may conceal the fear of the unknown or distrust on the people who “keep their cards to themselves”.

There is a certain ideal of fantasy in terms of the element of disguise. From examining the Islamic veil and what it has to imply by the use of it there are some unthought of ideals to why the women of this culture would conform:

- to separate group members from nonmembers

- to place the individual in the social organisation

- to place the individual in a gender category

- to indicate social conduct to indicate high status or rank

- to control sexual activity

- to enhance role performance

- to give the individual a sense of activity.