Dressing Up, part 2: respecting yourself.
I bought myself a bui-bui on Sunday, after a long search. I’ve been going to the market, looking for the perfect (but still affordable - the price ranges between 10 and 50 euros) bui-bui, and finally I found the one. It is really beautiful, I must say. Now, what they call bui-bui in Zanzibar, is not technically a bui-bui anymore. Bui-bui (meaning also ‘spider’ in Swahili) used to be one big black cloth wrapped around ones body and held with both hands – thus not very comfortable for moving around. Based on my observations, about 95 % of the women in Stone Town don’t wear this old-fashion bui-bui anymore, but the new, modern one, familiar for those who’ve been to Arab countries where it is known as abaya. It is either a long, black dress or a long, jacket-like cloth that you wear on top of your clothes. The one I got is an open one (bui-bui wazi), with some cream-coloured embroideries and glitter – all in all very feminine, I would say.
I didn’t really understand why they wanted to sell me a really big size, before I was being explained that I am supposed to take it to a tailor in order to make it fit (getting the right shape for 1000 shillings, a bit more than 50 cents – not too bad a price). After price negotiations for the bui-bui (or abaya) itself, I was led to a tailor, or more like a work-shop of several tailors. It was so refreshing to sit and wait there while he finished my bui-bui into perfection after taking my measures: nobody was harassing me, just treating me as a normal person, a human being instead of just a white European, mzungu. The tailor was also extremely serious while conducting his work, one could see that he was proud of his skills and his profession. After the first version of sewing was finished and I was trying my bui-bui on, he proclaimed with a very dramatic voice: “I don’t think there is any point of continuing this anymore.” Thus it was the end of our tailor-client relationship, bui-bui was ready to be worn. I just didn’t have the courage to try adjusting the headscarf appropriately as well, and decided to wear it for the first time on Monday, after rehearsing different styles of veiling. After a week of alternating between wearing it and not wearing it, I still feel a bit fake when walking on the street. When in Rome, do as the Romans do, right? And people's reactions are really pleasant, I'm getting a lot of encouraging smiles and "salaam aleikums" on the street, and less "hey mzungu, jambojambo!" cries.
I'm still not sure where I stand in this all veiling discussion. All I know is that I am definitely for free choice - and thus against the prohibition of veil in schools etc. But here it is not really a free choice, because everybody, even most of the mainlanders in Zanzibar, are veiling. Partly it is surely a matter of social pressure, partly it is a cultural convention, and partly fashion. Especially women’s dressing has always been under scrutiny, since they are more often thought to be the upholders of the moral in society in general. As it was put in the Zanzibar AIDS Commission booklet “Teacher’s Guide for Educating Children and Young People in Faith Based Schools”: “Decent dressing identifies respected people from non-respected people”.
Battle against indecent dressing is a very contested issue, not only in Zanzibar but in other countries as well. Horizon, a weekly newspaper published by Islamic Propagation Centre of Tanzania, published an article on the situation in Nigeria, which is divided into strongly Christian south and equally strongly Muslim north. According to the article, many Nigerian universities had to “introduce a dress code to curb the irritating trend of indecent dresses on campuses”. I’m not sure who was irritated, but both Christians and Muslims in Nigeria seem to agree that this “immoral dressing” is doubtlessly a foreign idea that imposes on the Nigerian culture in the name of “modernization”. Just a few months ago 90 women were charged in court in Lagos with dressing immodestly and behaving with the kind of “conduct likely to cause breach of public peace”.
Another Tanzanian newspaper, The African had in its Leisure/Weekend –section in September a long article titled “Decent wearing signifies one’s dignity”. I have to say that in the beginning I was quite appalled at the way journalist (a man) was writing. Basically sexual harassment on the streets, or in public places in general was stated as being a universal experience (although in Finland nobody says anything about your clothes if you’re not going around naked) and as being “all the fault of the women folk”. Interviewed women who had been wearing exposing clothes and changed back into abaya and veiling were praised for respecting themselves, Tanzanian culture and African context. Which is a bit contradictory, taken that the abaya originates from the Middle East...These women who dressed decently were contrasted with ‘street girls’, apparently white ex-patriates called as ‘thatchers’. They were all claimed to be wearing tops that leave most of the belly exposed and miniskirts that reach between the knee and thigh (wow, can you imagine!). The last paragraph of the article was quite determining: “The problem is that these civilized white thatchers want us to be like them – always dissatisfied, getting a hill and wanting a mountain. Lets be our own selves.”
One thing is for sure: black is in fashion, especially for urban Zanzibari women. Bui-bui has been in fashion ever since the Second World War, and it still seems to be the most respectable and modern thing to wear. It is funny though, how quickly things become “traditional”: at the National Museum both bui-bui and kangas (colourful pieces of cloth with sayings printed on it, worn as a skirt and a scarf) were presented as “traditional Swahili clothing”, although bui-bui is barely 80 years old and kanga around 150 years old. There have been some quite substantial changes in the way Zanzibaris or Muslims all over the world have been dressing. Veiling got into fashion again in the 1980s - before that women in many Muslim countries (including Zanzibar!) wore even miniskirts and other garments, regarded as being modern, Western clothes. Suddenly, after the Iranian Revolution in 1979, all over the world young, educated Muslim women began to veil themselves again – phenomenon, which has been called either ‘returning to the veil’ or ‘new veiling’. Academic researchers have concluded that veil holds different functions nowadays than just separating sexes or oppressing women in a patriarchal society. Especially Muslim women claim that the veil is liberating for them: it gives a possibility to move around in public without being harassed and it is a sign of your Muslim identity. In brief, by wearing a veil one can combine moving in public (previously very rare for upper-class Muslim women) and being respectable – thus veil is not a separating, but an equalising factor.
Veiling in Zanzibar has also historical connotations. Until the end of slavery (1890), only free women were allowed to veil in Zanzibar – slaves could neither cover their heads nor wear shoes. Consequently, when the slavery was abolished, more and more women began to wear a veil, thus being more ‘Arab-like’, and raising their status and prestige in this way. Islamic education was also spreading faster, and there was no better way to show respect towards Islam, ones parents and oneself than wearing covering clothes – a veil. It is in fact amazing how much the way you dress can influence not just you (because nobody dresses just for her/himself, even if people seem to claim so), but also the people around you. Dress does send a message, or multiple messages at the same time. Like this veiling issue: it can be seen as liberating, oppressing, seducing, respectable, mysterious, feminine or a patriarchal phenomenon. It seems to be a general joke that women can wear a bikini underneath their bui-buis here, just for fun because nobody can see under their bui-bui. Flirting with eyes is also something of an art form for women here. All in all, things are not quite as they seem on the surface. Women themselves describe the veil as making them feel mature, fashionable, modern and respectable – just simply women. Girl power, eh?
I didn’t really understand why they wanted to sell me a really big size, before I was being explained that I am supposed to take it to a tailor in order to make it fit (getting the right shape for 1000 shillings, a bit more than 50 cents – not too bad a price). After price negotiations for the bui-bui (or abaya) itself, I was led to a tailor, or more like a work-shop of several tailors. It was so refreshing to sit and wait there while he finished my bui-bui into perfection after taking my measures: nobody was harassing me, just treating me as a normal person, a human being instead of just a white European, mzungu. The tailor was also extremely serious while conducting his work, one could see that he was proud of his skills and his profession. After the first version of sewing was finished and I was trying my bui-bui on, he proclaimed with a very dramatic voice: “I don’t think there is any point of continuing this anymore.” Thus it was the end of our tailor-client relationship, bui-bui was ready to be worn. I just didn’t have the courage to try adjusting the headscarf appropriately as well, and decided to wear it for the first time on Monday, after rehearsing different styles of veiling. After a week of alternating between wearing it and not wearing it, I still feel a bit fake when walking on the street. When in Rome, do as the Romans do, right? And people's reactions are really pleasant, I'm getting a lot of encouraging smiles and "salaam aleikums" on the street, and less "hey mzungu, jambojambo!" cries.
I'm still not sure where I stand in this all veiling discussion. All I know is that I am definitely for free choice - and thus against the prohibition of veil in schools etc. But here it is not really a free choice, because everybody, even most of the mainlanders in Zanzibar, are veiling. Partly it is surely a matter of social pressure, partly it is a cultural convention, and partly fashion. Especially women’s dressing has always been under scrutiny, since they are more often thought to be the upholders of the moral in society in general. As it was put in the Zanzibar AIDS Commission booklet “Teacher’s Guide for Educating Children and Young People in Faith Based Schools”: “Decent dressing identifies respected people from non-respected people”.
Battle against indecent dressing is a very contested issue, not only in Zanzibar but in other countries as well. Horizon, a weekly newspaper published by Islamic Propagation Centre of Tanzania, published an article on the situation in Nigeria, which is divided into strongly Christian south and equally strongly Muslim north. According to the article, many Nigerian universities had to “introduce a dress code to curb the irritating trend of indecent dresses on campuses”. I’m not sure who was irritated, but both Christians and Muslims in Nigeria seem to agree that this “immoral dressing” is doubtlessly a foreign idea that imposes on the Nigerian culture in the name of “modernization”. Just a few months ago 90 women were charged in court in Lagos with dressing immodestly and behaving with the kind of “conduct likely to cause breach of public peace”.
Another Tanzanian newspaper, The African had in its Leisure/Weekend –section in September a long article titled “Decent wearing signifies one’s dignity”. I have to say that in the beginning I was quite appalled at the way journalist (a man) was writing. Basically sexual harassment on the streets, or in public places in general was stated as being a universal experience (although in Finland nobody says anything about your clothes if you’re not going around naked) and as being “all the fault of the women folk”. Interviewed women who had been wearing exposing clothes and changed back into abaya and veiling were praised for respecting themselves, Tanzanian culture and African context. Which is a bit contradictory, taken that the abaya originates from the Middle East...These women who dressed decently were contrasted with ‘street girls’, apparently white ex-patriates called as ‘thatchers’. They were all claimed to be wearing tops that leave most of the belly exposed and miniskirts that reach between the knee and thigh (wow, can you imagine!). The last paragraph of the article was quite determining: “The problem is that these civilized white thatchers want us to be like them – always dissatisfied, getting a hill and wanting a mountain. Lets be our own selves.”
One thing is for sure: black is in fashion, especially for urban Zanzibari women. Bui-bui has been in fashion ever since the Second World War, and it still seems to be the most respectable and modern thing to wear. It is funny though, how quickly things become “traditional”: at the National Museum both bui-bui and kangas (colourful pieces of cloth with sayings printed on it, worn as a skirt and a scarf) were presented as “traditional Swahili clothing”, although bui-bui is barely 80 years old and kanga around 150 years old. There have been some quite substantial changes in the way Zanzibaris or Muslims all over the world have been dressing. Veiling got into fashion again in the 1980s - before that women in many Muslim countries (including Zanzibar!) wore even miniskirts and other garments, regarded as being modern, Western clothes. Suddenly, after the Iranian Revolution in 1979, all over the world young, educated Muslim women began to veil themselves again – phenomenon, which has been called either ‘returning to the veil’ or ‘new veiling’. Academic researchers have concluded that veil holds different functions nowadays than just separating sexes or oppressing women in a patriarchal society. Especially Muslim women claim that the veil is liberating for them: it gives a possibility to move around in public without being harassed and it is a sign of your Muslim identity. In brief, by wearing a veil one can combine moving in public (previously very rare for upper-class Muslim women) and being respectable – thus veil is not a separating, but an equalising factor.
Veiling in Zanzibar has also historical connotations. Until the end of slavery (1890), only free women were allowed to veil in Zanzibar – slaves could neither cover their heads nor wear shoes. Consequently, when the slavery was abolished, more and more women began to wear a veil, thus being more ‘Arab-like’, and raising their status and prestige in this way. Islamic education was also spreading faster, and there was no better way to show respect towards Islam, ones parents and oneself than wearing covering clothes – a veil. It is in fact amazing how much the way you dress can influence not just you (because nobody dresses just for her/himself, even if people seem to claim so), but also the people around you. Dress does send a message, or multiple messages at the same time. Like this veiling issue: it can be seen as liberating, oppressing, seducing, respectable, mysterious, feminine or a patriarchal phenomenon. It seems to be a general joke that women can wear a bikini underneath their bui-buis here, just for fun because nobody can see under their bui-bui. Flirting with eyes is also something of an art form for women here. All in all, things are not quite as they seem on the surface. Women themselves describe the veil as making them feel mature, fashionable, modern and respectable – just simply women. Girl power, eh?
Comments
About the veiling issue, I should mention the case of Turkey. According to a recent poll, less women are veiling themselves than in the 1990s despite the seeming rise of "Islamic sentiments" and the claims that Islam is taking over the public sphere.
This can be explained in many ways, e.g. a) more veiled women are active in the society, thus the increased visibility; b) the traditional veiling is decreasing, but the rural changes are not visible where the observers are (larger, univeristy cities).
I stand for free choice and veiling of adult women (i.e. Turkey has no right to bar grown-up students wearing veils or scarfs from entering universities and government offices - they do let them dress like Paris Hilton, and that should be banned :), but I do not support the veiling of under aged children (like some "newborn Muslims" tend to do here in Finland, too). Though, I should add, that parents do have a say in how their kids dress.
Allah zihin açıklığı versin!
Here in Finland we have this phenomenon called winter approaching again...I wonder if a winter abaya has been developed? It seems that in northern climates muslims wear their abaya over regular winter clothes. I bet a well designed and warm winter abaya would soon become a hit. And when will local non-muslim females start to adopt abayas? Afterall, japanese-style outfits, indian flavoured clothing and most recently african prints have been at least somewhat in fashion lately in Finland. Will an abaya ever lose its religious meaning?
And a wonderful blog on Iran (mostly in Finnish though), thanks Lauri for that link: http://www.iranoia.blogspot.com, also quite a few comments on dressing.
About that photo - I'll see what I can do...but everything is very pole pole (slow slow) here, so don't expect too much from me :)
terv. Sampsa eli GranGanga