Hijab

Young orthodox Jewish women still wear wigs. Saw a whole synagogue trip at Alexandra Palace last week and all the young mums had wigs on.

When women are not able to make choices about what they wear/ do because it is dictated by men either via religion or otherwise I personally do no agree with it and have campaigned against it.

However I have worked with very many feisty young Muslim women who do wear a hijab. They tell me it is by choice and judging by the rest of their choices I can't imagine these particular women being 'forced' to do things they do not want to. However there are women who are forced to behave in certain ways and that cuts across all social strata/ religions/non-religions.

The Western world is focussed on Islam because politically it is expedient to and of course it is easier to see male dominance manipulated and used by some men in that religion but do not let it blind us from the similar male dominance in western culture..it maybe less obvious but it still exists.

Yes. Control of women.

Buddhist nuns do shave their heads. So do Buddhist monks. I believe some orders of Christian nuns used to do the same but they wore a veil as well. Some orthodox Jewish married women wear wigs in public because they don't go about with uncovered heads. Some wear scarves. Until the 19th century, most Western women covered their heads. Isn't there something a bit weird about all this emphasis on women's hair?

They could just shave their heads, if that's the reason...?

I refused a wedding veil, had long hair and put lots of embroidered daises all over it.
I don't think that any Muslim head coverings are religious, but cultural.
Clearly a case of 'no vanity' for nuns though, with no hair showing.

I had a massive row with my dad once when I refused to wear a hat in church. I went, hatless, separately from him and never heard another word about it. After that, the minister's daughters abandoned hats as did the local landowner's daughter. I had a wedding veil but said it was ridiculous to put it over my face as I had nothing to be modest about! For goodness' sake, I was 29. Had no argument from dad on that occasion. The one who got a sunburnt head at my open-aid reception was my baldng dad!

Another passing thought - why do many brides wear veils?

Girls in school with hair covered usually look very neat - and are unlikely to get the unwanted little visitors many children occasionally bring home from school!! Just a thought!

One just has to look at female subjugation is Saudi Arabia. And at what the Swedish Foreign Minister said recently.

When I took my granddaughter, then aged 3, to see a performance of the Gruffalo at a local theatre, a party of young Muslim school girls filed in, I'd say they weren't any older than 5 this was a show aimed at the very young. They were all wearing hijabs. It posed the question to me, why a child of that age should be expected to cover their heads with such a lot of material. Is the inference that there is something immodest about hair, in that these children would be deemed "temptresses" if their hair was visible.

I never really understood the whole female expected to cover their head thing. I was raised a Catholic and when I was very young, I remember girls and women were expected to wear something on their heads, but as time went by this custom got kicked into the long grass. The last time I was in church, I didn't see any females with covered heads.

My own thoughts are, if you do believe in a God or omnipresent creator, call him or her what you will, he/she would be okay with uncovered hair, after all he/she created hair, but maybe men should be the ones to cover their heads, their hair being more likely to fall out and therefore more liable to get a sun burnt head What God gavith, he can also take away, men's hair that is! Clearly God's will, Inshallah!

Hear, hear, nightowl. I've been thinking the same thing but you've put it into clear words.

nightowl - hear, hear!

There's being forced - by male and female relatives, and then there's the subtle indoctrination that begins from an early age so that women readily adopt what is a symbol of oppression. Then there are those girls who seem to have adopted the hijab either as a statement or as a fashion item (and they can look very attractive indeed). It is a bit of a minefield really, but I must admit I do feel uneasy about it while there are women in other parts of the world who truly have no choice about whether to wear it or indeed about anything at all.

I would doubt that Nadiya was being forced by either her father or husband judging by the delighted looks they had on their faces when she won.

Iam64 - sorry for late reply. I don't object to headscarf wearing in principle as I think we should all be entitled to wear exactly what we like. However, it makes me uncomfortable as I suspect many of the wearers are being forced into it by their male relatives.

Except that it's not a religious requirement, we keep being told, but a cultural one, and not even a requirement at that unless one has "over protective" male relatives.

Married Orthodox Jewish women are theoretically supposed to cover their hair to hide it from men other than their husbands. It is the same principle as the hijab, not surprisingly as the roots of Islam and Judaism are in the same part of the middle East. It is now only ultra-orthodox Jews who observe this.

www.buzzfeed.com/jewinthecity/13-annoying-things-most-people-assume-about-orthod-9kbu

Sorry, miss quoted but I'm still in the dark

whenIwasyourage
wigs for Orthodox Jews. I've never heard of this.

theconversation.com/how-the-great-british-bake-off-became-the-great-british-identity-battle-48851

Another excellent article about the bakeoff.
Nadiya winning has definitely made some people wonder about Britishness, which is a good thing.

This is Nadiya's Showstopper. Can't find the others yet...

Where can I see a picture of the winning cake (and others)?

I've tried googling...

No.

Is thinking something weird the same as minding?

The Christian nuns who wear old-fahioned head gear are declaring their religiosity. I presume. I also wonder why they do that, elegran. I suppose it's just a choice; it's just that I'm coming from a place (an internal place) where such declarations seem a bit weird.