Protection In Style

After reading the prologue of Nine Parts of Desire by Geraldine Brooks, it was brought to my attention that different regions and countries have different styles of clothing that are acceptable for women to be allowed to wear. In the novel, Geraldine works with a Middle Eastern woman, Sahar, who was first known for her "poise and sophistication" (6). Later when Geraldine saw her during Ramadan, Sahar was dressed in the "uniform of a Muslim fundamentalist" (7). As I read on, it was clear that Sahar prefers to wear hijab - the Islamic dress. It is surprising that such a wealthy and sophisticated woman would rather wear hijab than her normal Westernized clothing. We Americans assume that all of the women in the Middle East would prefer to dress more similar to the Westerners. We are, however, quite wrong, because a counterexample is that Sahar would rather dress in hijab because it gave her "security on Cairo's bustling streets." (9) It is very rare that veiled girls get raped, so by wearing hijab, it makes some women such as Sahar feel more protected. As much as women might seem to get too protected by the men of the Middle East, it is evident that they would rather be protected than to have no protection at all. -a.v.