Veiled Objections: Facing Public Opposition to the Niqab

• Author: Natasha Bakht
• Pages: 37-64

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 chapter two

VEILED OBJECTIONS: FACING PUBLIC

OPPOSITION TO THE NIQAB*

    many Western democracies are increasingly

multicultural; that is, heterogeneous in terms of race, class, religion,

gender identity, ability, and sexual dierence. Despite many moves toward

increasing tolerance for such diversity, the inclination toward religion in

the public sphere is frequently experienced as dangerous. Perhaps this

is in part due to generalized beliefs that religious views are necessarily

narrow-minded or less progressive. e risky nature of overt displays

of religion in public spaces is aggravated many-fold when the bearers of

religion are Muslim. Suspicion of Muslims is partly the result of the

historically fraught relationship between Islamic societies and “the West,”

and this has no doubt been further fuelled in the aftermath of , sub-

sequent terrorist attacks in several Western nations, and the ubiquitous

national security rhetoric of many nations that target primarily Muslims.

Muslim women garner particular attention for their dress.

* An earlier version of this chapter was f‌irst published as part of an edited collection:

Natasha Bakht, “Veiled Objections: Facing Public Opposition to the Niqab” in Lori G

Beaman, ed, Reasonable Accommodation: Managing Religious Diversity (Vancouver:

UBC Press, 2012) 70. It has since been substantially updated.

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In Your Face

It seems that as Westerners, we have barely recovered from the

fact that some Muslim women wear the hijab when the latest focus

of anti-Muslim hysteria appears in full swing, this time over women

who wear the niqab. Niqab-wearing women appear to provoke such a

repugnance in many people that they are unable to move beyond this

initial visceral reaction. My concern about this revulsion led me to col-

lect and ref‌lect on public reactions to Muslim women who cover their

faces. is chapter is an attempt to analyze the growing agitation that

has been expressed about Muslim women who cover their faces. I occa-

sionally use examples of hijab- or headscarf-wearing women where an

example involving a niqab-wearing woman was not available, or where

the rationale used to justify a prohibition is equally applicable to both

types of Islamic veils. Although the hijab and niqab are dierent, both

of these types of Muslim women’s religious dress are often perceived

by non-wearers as threats to gender equality or other values that people

see as belonging to the nation. e niqab is arguably more controversial

than the hijab because it covers the woman’s face (as opposed to only her

hair) and is not as commonly seen. us, where the hijab has garnered

opposition or criticism, my rationale is that the niqab will be considered

even more problematic or inf‌lammatory.

I trace North American, European, and some southern global con-

texts in which the issue of the face veil is a site of social debate and

contestation by canvassing media and law reports from the last twelve

years. While there are unique socio-political factors that shape local

responses to the face veil in dierent regions and nations (and where

possible, I elucidate these), the commonalities and recurring themes that

emerge are striking. e depth of discomfort evoked by these women

and their outward markers of religiosity is extraordinary and, as I will

demonstrate, results in a wide range of rationalizations as to why their

public displays of religiosity must be banned.

e purpose of this chapter is to review the reasons for opposing the

niqab by critically examining arguments put forth for why women should

not wear face-coverings. e intent is not to further marginalize an

already beleaguered minority. Rather, I am of the view that it is impera-

tive to unpack arguments that insist on alienating a religious minority

such that the refocusing of the gaze is on “us,” on the reasons we oer