The Political Psychology of the Veil

by Sahar Ghumkhor

Veiled women in the West appear menacing. Their visible invisibility is a cause of obsession. What is beneath the veil more than a woman? This book investigates the preoccupation with the veiled body through the imaging and imagining of Muslim women. It examines the relationship between the body and knowledge through the politics of freedom as grounded in a ‘natural’ body, in the index of flesh. The impulse to unveil is more than a desire to free the Muslim woman. What lies at the heart of the fantasy of saving the Muslim woman is the West’s desire to save itself. The preoccupation with the veiled woman is a defense that preserves neither the object of orientalism nor the difference embodied in women’s bodies, but inversely, insists on the corporeal boundaries of the West’s mode of knowing and truth-making. The book contends that the imagination of unveiling restores the West’s sense of its own power and enables it to intrude where it is ‘other’ – thus making it the centre and the agent by promising universal freedom, all the while stifling the question of what freedom is.

Genres: Psychology, Politics, Feminism, Nonfiction, Islam

274 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2020

Reviews

[Asim Qureshi · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent critique of the ways in which the hijab/niqab are politicised (particularly within the West) and how these narratives are part of the violence that cages Muslim women. Ghumkhor's understanding of the ways in which narratives on feminism, imperialism, colonialism, racism and securitisation work alongside one another is uniquely detailed and comprehensive. This book is the antidote to the narrow ways in which Muslim women have been constructed by the West in contemporary discourse.

[wajiha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant.

i love how the author made it a point to not explain why the veiled woman chooses to veil. why one chooses to veil shouldn’t be the question rather why is that question even a question ?

Ghumkhor instead focuses on the wests constant and relentless obsession to tear the veil off us, and the fact they think all muslim women need to be saved & are wounded by muslim men. whether our hijab is consented or imposed that matters not, we’re oppressed regardless guys we just dont know it.. *yawn*. you’d think with all this energy they’ve invested in to this topic they’d spare a few brain cells to entertain the idea that maybe women who choose to veil are just committed to their religion? idk though just a thought.

(personally have had multiple encounters with this narrative where people just assume im a victim of my hijab and its lowkey insulting honestly, not only are you implying that i am incapable of having that understanding & love for my religion to willingly carry out my religious obligations but youre also subtly implying that im being spiritually abused by my menfolk like please why the heck am i having to defend my dad in the middle of a conversation about *my* hijab)

Author explains the western perception of the veil with examples of how they’ve retaliated throughout the years (never realised until now how dramatic these lot are) this “concern” for us and our well being either via sending troops to our countries or through legal proclamations is so evidently islamophobic so its shocking to see (some) muslims in the west and non muslims falling for this facade by being okay with western intervention and/or hijab/niqab bans.

A couple of things that stuck out for me:

1 ) How European artists use the name “Aisha” for their paintings of unveiled women and the significance behind them using the name Aisha — “Having a religious and cultural potency, symbolic of a powerful female figure in Islamic tradition - scholar, military leader and poet Aisha has a special status in Islam and is considered an ideal female model for Muslim women to aspire to. As such, the unveiling of "Aisha" within the realm of the Orientalist imaginary not only presupposes an unveiled figure of emulation, but also denotes satisfaction by revealing the secrets of the Orient. The repeated unveiling of Aisha fulfils the fantasy of entering the heart of Islam through rescuing the Muslim woman.”

2 ) Edward Said, in Orientalism: “fixation on Islam throughout the colonial period and the postcolonial era as a “lasting trauma”. This trauma, Said contends, was triggered by Islam’s lurking dangerous presence as an “Ottoman peril” at the edges of Europe until the seventeenth century”

3 ) Trumps decision to continue his intervention in Afghanistan because of a "black and white photograph of young Afghan women in short skirts, smiling, walking
down a Kabul street in 1972" was shown to him by his national security advisor to make the point that “Afghanistan has the capacity to receive western norms”.

to summarise: this book explains the several ways the veil is pathologised. interesting to see how we’re perceived by the “other” and how that in turn affects the way some muslim women see themselves.

my only concern is this book may not be classified as an “easy” read so would be hard to refer people to this in hopes to enlighten them re the topic (possibly the reason why this book isnt as popular as it should be).

[Tim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not very interesting. The phrase "psychobabble" comes to mind. The author has potential but doesn't reach high. Very very limited audience.

[AY · Rating 5 out of 5]

An in-depth analysis of the West's obsession with the veil which is exposed as a defence mechanism of the West to cope with its own lack of absolute knowledge that it assumes it has. It also touches upon how images of imperilled Muslim women is over circulated as a form of knowledge creation.

The author further expands on how merely removing the veil isn't enough for liberation in the eyes of the West, the Muslim Woman is required to consume without constraints.

She also psychoanalyzes the focus on ex-muslim/ex-hijabi confessions and how individualistic experiences are prioritised over sociological observation to create a narrative about the Muslim/Arab World by the West just because it fits it's Orientalist fantasies.