Head Scarf for Harmony

 


A few years ago we were in the National Art Gallery of Canada in Ottawa and walked into a room which included paintings of Habitant women from another era in Quebec. Most of the women wore headscarves, as was the custom of the time. There were no angry protests in the room nor demands that these paintings of oppression be removed. 

Nor did anyone get up in arms when women wore hats to church in an earlier day, with special attention given to the "Easter bonnet." My mother loved wearing hats and did so well into her 80s.




Some Islamophobes and white supremacists in our culture target Muslim women who choose to wear a head covering, often demeaning or threatening them in public places. There was a shocking photo of a armed man with a face covering (how ironic) following a woman to her mosque in Texas. His behaviour was legal in this "Christian" state.



Today, a week after the massacre of Muslims as they worshipped in New Zealand women there are wearing headscarves in solidarity with those who choose to do so for cultural and religious reasons. A doctor in Auckland, Thaya Ashman, came up with the Head Scarf for Harmony campaign after hearing about a woman who was too scared to go out as she felt her headscarf would make her a target for terrorism.“I wanted to say: ‘We are with you, we want you to feel at home on your own streets, we love, support and respect you’,” Ashman said. 

 One participant, Rachel MacGregor, said she had felt anxious going out with her head covered, with people staring when she entered her office building.“It’s given me for the first time an appreciation for what it must be like to be a minority and to wear clothing that perhaps the majority don’t normally wear.”

 I don't want any woman or girl to feel that they are required to wear a headscarf because a man has told them to do so. At the same time I believe in freedom of expression and that no woman should feel threatened by bigots who decide that doing so is wrong.

At the Peace Vigil in Belleville on Wednesday evening we sat behind a mother and daughter who are amongst the Syrian refugees sponsored by a number of faith communities. Both had their heads covered. Both were open and responded to us with smiles. The face of the little girl was radiant. Who am I to tell them that covering their heads is not acceptable?

God bless the women of New Zealand who have chosen to do this today.