20 May 2016

No Force in Religion | Acts of protest, Hijab and the State

The upper statement is the translation for a well known verse in Quran, Surat Al-Baqara.
The Photos below have a 12 years difference:
1- The First Photo was in FRANCE on Friday, 1 Oct. 2004 When 15 yr old "Cennet Doganay" decided to "Shave her head" in protest on forcing her to take off her Hijab (Head scarf), under the French law banning all symbols of religious signs in public spaces including schools, also known as "Laicite". Ref. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3708444.stm
 
2- The Next Photo is a participation from a woman on My Stealthy Freedom آزادی یواشکی زنان در ایرانwho took the very same action, only this time in IRAN, a country on the other hand that forced Hijab as a dress code for all the adult females of its nation.

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The Photos are alike yet not alike, you can see, they both shaved their heads in protest (commonly hair is symbolised as a woman's crown and a symbol of her beauty) telling the statement of "If the State and Law don't let me practice my beliefs freely, this won't be tolerated" also paraphrased in the Upper Verse to which those two ladies supposedly affiliate to.
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The History of forcing women to a dress code by the act of law or society or both, is not new, and not exclusive to Islam, Prof. Sahar Amer from the University of Sydney in fact mentioned in her amazingly crafted book What is Veiling? A book by Sahar Amer this dating it back to ancient history. She also mentions The above mention acts of Veiling and Deveiling as a form of a statement in countries where veiling is prohibited or forced.

On the side of #Art, Iran's Marjan Satrapi did a masterpiece comic "Persepolis" (Photo No. 3 discusses the transformation of Iran from Prohibiting wearing the hijab (a.k.a France), to Forcing wearing the Hijab) in an arrogant act of constant manipulation of Female attire and performance.

But Amer also places other artworks that discusses the historical voyeuristic approach of #Orientalist Art in the 19th Century colonialism, and how the women were objectified in a sense that remain prominent till this very moment, due to the same act of cultural hegemony (If you studied Art History, you certainly will remember Photo No. 4 Le Bain Turc by Ingres in 1862)

(The book is a must read on all aspects and fields, politics, art, society etc.) as well as the Statement to be kept in our conscious mind, FORCED PRACTICE IS UNACCEPTABLE

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