Religious Debates About Wearing of Veils

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RELIGIOUS DEBATES ABOUT WEARING OF VEILS The practice of wearing veil, especially in religious way, is often symbolised and homogenised; and it has become a common subject in media, classrooms and political debates where it is regularly analysed in the following ways: establishing reasons for veiling such as why women wear veil and whether they freely do so; and assessing whether the practice of wearing veil is good or bad within certain framework such as international law, secular liberation and feminism. In the past, such media explanations and debates centred on conceptualisation of veil wearing as anti-ethical to modernity and religiously based notion which was incepted to oppress Islamic women and create an idea that men are superior to women. However, historical and ethnographical researches has contended this older interpretations, as it has been repeatedly argued that practice of veiling is a complex issue which could have been initiated and upheld by colonisation, naturalisation, economic development and globalisation; and that it was not necessarily intended to oppress women or portray them as weaker sex. For instance, some research findings suggest that certain cultural expectations, conventions and norms are responsible for veiling culture in some countries and some women still upheld this veiling culture even when they reside in other countries where the veiling culture is not required. Furthermore, modern religious symbolism associated with veil wearing can be considered as a myth because evident indicates that wearing of veil is common in olden ages irrespective of the religion or belief of women and men. Again, it has been argued that some women wear veil and discard it in different situations to symbolise political struggle – which indicates that veil wearing could be politically motivated or have a political implications. On the other hand,
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