The Limits of Cross-Cultural Analogy: Muslim Veiling and ‘Western’ Fashion and Beauty Practices

Abstract

Drawing commonalities between embodied practices understood to be rooted in different cultural contexts has become prevalent in a range of feminist literatures. One analogy increasingly drawn is that between Muslim veiling¹ and so-called Western fashion and beauty practices.² Nancy Hirschmann suggests, for example, that Western feminists need to ask themselves whether ‘the veil’ is more oppressive than ‘Western fashion’ trends such as Wonderbras, mini skirts and blue jeans (1998, p. 361). Similarly, Sheila Jeffreys (2005) argues that beauty practices prevalent in ‘the West’ such as make-up, dieting and cosmetic surgery should be understood as ‘harmful cultural practices’ comparable to ‘non-Western’ practices as female genital mutilation and veiling. Linda Duits and Liesbet van Zoonen claim that both girls wearing headscarves and those dressed in ‘porno-chic’ are ‘submitted to the meta-narratives of dominant discourse’ which define their everyday practices as inappropriate and deny them the power to define their own action (2006, p. 103). These types of comparisons are now increasingly echoed within mainstream media discourse. For instance, in an article exploring veiling practices in the UK in The Observer Andrew Anthony argues that ‘the veil and the bra top are really two sides of the same coin’ (2005, p. 17). The premature recognition of female sexuality implicated by the veiling of girls as young as seven or eight ‘is every bit as significant, and disturbing, as dressing a child in a high-street approximation of Britney Spears, all bare midriff and attitude’ (p. 17).