the pink politic

Getting beneath the headscarf

I was standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom of my apartment just now, trying to figure out how to make the brown and green and tan style scarf I got on sale from Banana Republic into a headscarf.

I’m going tomorrow for the first time to a mosque. My Master’s Project topic has evolved into a study of women in New York who convert to Islam. Tomorrow, after I take a two-hour test at Columbia for a summer internship at the Associated Press, I’ll get on a bus, head over to the Upper East Side, and start my reporting.

But for now, back to the bathroom. It was so jarring to stare back at myself in the mirror and not see my hair. I looked so different, so hidden, so not me. And this is probably what - to a much higher degree - all the converts I meet must have felt during their conversion. Islam is not only a religion, but a lifestyle as well, which dictates dress and eating habits. So the thought of wearing the headscarf had me at first, I’ll admit, a little queasy. But with research I learned that women visitors to mosques are expected to wear the headscarf, not as a statement of belief in Islam, but a gesture of respect. And since I’ll be attending this class as an outsider (not only an outsider, but a journalist seeking sources and information) during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, I'm going to be respectful.

I think to a lot of people in our post-Sept. 11 world, Islam is still something a little scary, and I want to help look beyond our stereotypes to find the everyday people that practice this religion. It is both frightening and exciting for me to jump into this world that I know nothing about and hopefully become something of an expert in it. And I think that combination of trepidation and enthusiasm is exemplified by this headscarf. I see it as both something impenetrable and unknown and something to be discovered and understood.

posted by Tina @ 4:48 PM