B Is For Burqa, C Is For Censorship: The Miseducative Effects of Censoring Muslim Girls and Women's Sartorial Discourse

Abstract

In this article, I add a discursive analysis to the discussion about Muslim girls and women's dress in non-Muslim educational contexts. I argue that a law or policy that prohibits the wearing of khimar, burqa, chador, niqab, hijab, or jilbab in the context of public schools is a form of censorship in educational contexts. This sartorial censorship is miseducative in the sense that it impedes the achievement of important educational goals, especially in public education. I consider the public nature of public education and discuss three sets of miseducative effects: First, the examination of discursive processes, including the production of social norms, is limited. Second, the critical uptake of the banned discourse by female Muslim students themselves is foreclosed, and their agency hindered. Third, a metadiscourse arises that translates individual sartorial discursive acts into generalized terms (such as “veils” and “headscarves”) without noticing what is lost in translation.

Notes

¹Throughout this article, I use different terms to refer to different ways of covering head, face, and/or body. The burqa is a full-length garment, worn mostly in Afghanistan, that covers all of the body, head, and face, with netting at the level of the eyes. The chador, a cloak worn in Iran, covers all of the head and body, and may or may not cover the face. The niqab covers the face from just below the eyes and may be worn with a khimar—a scarf covering the head, neck, and shoulders—and a jilbab—a full-length coat or dress that leaves the head and hands exposed. Hijab, which in the Qur'an does not designate a face veil or head scarf but rather a screen or partition, is the term commonly used by North African women living in the West for a scarf that covers the head and neck, but not the shoulders or face; it can also refer to modest dress more generally.