After reading the chapter on Muslim women’s dress in our readings, I did a little digging to find some current events relating to the Muslim hijab. In this search, I stumbled across this article about Macy’s new hijab brand. As you can tell from the pictures, these hijabs are very trendy and fashionable. The brand was designed by Lisa Vogl, who after converting to Islam struggled to find fashionable, modest clothing. I have mixed feelings about the way the hijab is marketed. In particular, the creation of this fashion line is somewhat symbolic of the cultural undertones in this week’s readings. While the US is much more liberal with concern to the hijab than other countries, the “Americanization” of the hijab in this line shows how assimilation is considered the ultimate goal. By making the hijab more culturally appealing, the assimilation of Muslims into dominant American culture is encouraged.
Although I can see the negative implications of this clothing line, I can also see the positives. By creating a modest fashion line that appeals to Muslim females, it enables them to feel comfortable openly displaying their faith and facilitates the availability of this clothing. Despite being encouraged to assimilate, providing access to religiously appropriate clothing could have a large scale impact on acceptance of religious garb.
Do you find this clothing line offensive or a step in the right direction?
References
Caron, Christina, and Maya Salam. 2018. “Macy’s Courts Muslims with New Hijab Brand, The New York Times. Retrieved Mar. 12, 2018 (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/08/business/macys-hijabs.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FMuslim%20Veiling&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=3&pgtype=collection)
Scutt, Jocelynne A., eds. Women, Law and Culture: Conformity, Contradiction and Conflict (e-book through library). London: Palgrave-MacMillan.