Intro and Body

The religious headdress known as a veil, also known as a burqa, has become a highly debated symbol of freedom or oppression. Abu-Lughod (AL) and Maysan Haydar share their opinions from their personal views on the matter. Haydar is a Muslim women with a unique story about her head dress. Abu-Loghod is a member of the perseus book group who gives her own opinion about the burqa and its purpose. Haydar speaks to teenagers and tries to appeal to the new generation, where as AL tries to appeal to high scholars for an educational stance in the argument. Both AL and Haydar defend the culture of the head dress and explain that it is an optional garment that has strong benefits to all women who wear it.


The head dress is not forced by men, as AL and Haydar will explain, but symbolizes modesty and beauty. AL explains "First, the Taliban did not invent the burqas in Afghanistan." (Lughod 3)

The women that wear this head dress should not be pitied, explained by AL. AL writes, "One need only think of the American organization the Feminist Majority, with their campaign for the women in Afghanistan, or the wider discourse about women's human rights. Like the missionaries, these liberal feminists feel the need to speak for and on behalf of Afghan or other Muslim women in a language of women's rights or human rights."

A Huge difference about how AL and Haydar view this argument is their uses of evidence, Haydar like to use her own personal anecdotes to justify her opinion, while AL uses historical evidence to show that women have made this choice to benefit themselves.