Sudanese "Tops": A Positive Form Of Veiling

So much of the talk — and now, of the political action — in Europe and the United States regarding the burqa, the hijab, and other veils that supposedly lead to the oppression of women is laced with strident posturing about "women's rights" and "liberation" and stamping out the backwards traditions of developing countries.

The veil is the ultimate symbol against everything that "we" (the "we" changes depending on context — we the Westerners, we the liberated women, we the French, the Americans, etc) stand for, which is good and freeing and necessary as opposed to bad and pre-modern and repressed.

Never mind that women who use the veil, and who live in many countries where it is either obligatory or widely used, are rarely invited into the righteous speeches about freedom and liberation, unless they are willing to offer quotes about how oppressed they are.

Never mind that perhaps "tradition" is a more complicated and multi-faceted concept than one man telling one woman to cover her face. Even people who consider themselves respectful of cultural diversity remain skeptical of the veil's motives and purpose.

Which is why this Al-Jazeera piece on Sudan "tops" — long, traditional veils that wrap the body like loose scarves — is so gratifying to see. There are plenty of horrible things happening in Sudan to women. The Sudanese government has ordered women to be flogged hundreds of times for wearing pants and skirts. Sudan is certainly not a country a woman's rights blogger would use as an example of how tradition can be empowering.

However, I think it is critical to remember that even in the places that seem the most disturbed, the most hopeless, there are women who are making strides towards developing their own empowerment, their own freedom and their own path in the world.

The Sudanese women in Al-Jazeera's piece are at a fashion show in which models show off the latest "tops," delicately embroidered and in striking colors. Many young women no longer use the top, but still see it as integral to Sudanese culture and as a mark of high fashion. Older women see the top as a part of their identity, as a way they express and define themselves as individuals. Even as more women adopt "Western" clothing, the top has a place in Sudanese culture, and in the esteem of Sudanese women. It is not a symbol of oppression, forced on them by a tyrannical medieval tradition, but rather part of their cultural and personal identity, a source of pride.

This is not a ground-breaking or shocking story, but it is important. It breaks up this constant stream of veil-phobia, of angry and paranoid discourse that so often forgets that women can and should ultimately be the ones who make the decisions about what they'll wear and how they will manage, maintain, or reject their traditions.

Photo credit: Nite_Owl