The world is full of heavy users of social media in recent times. Online or digital media websites namely The Age, Herald Sun and Independent have billions of people who use them on regular basis and are thus a rapid growing domain of information sharing (Nielsen and Schrøder 2014). Currently, digital media has comprised stories, information, opinions and narratives regarding elections as well as social justice movements such as LGBTQ rights, feminism, ethical norms and values, racism along with religious practices (Bastos 2015). Subjects like these have been giving rise to great strides but they still encounter social injustice.
The following paper will argue on the way digital media such as Independent newspaper has highlighted a particular issue related to breaching of norms or ‘social value’ by women in Iran. In addition to this, the paper will emphasize sociological determinants related to this issue.
Discussion
Digital or print media facilitates information to successfully disseminate information across the globe within very short duration. Nielsen and Schrøder (2014) have revealed that print media access to and further construct social issues for significant numbers of audiences throughout the world. Furthermore, in contemporary days the wide ranging digital media has been perceived by authors as an efficient mode of information sharing medium for successfully promoting and broadcasting issues concerning politics, feminism, sexism, ageism along with other oppressive social incidents.
Dearden (2016) in Independent Newspaper have shed light on issue concerning Iranian women who have been detained for posting images on Instagram that is regarded to be ‘inappropriate’ or ‘vulgar’ for the Iranian populace. Haines (2015) have revealed that around eight Iranian women have been sent in detention for posting images without wearing compulsory headscarf. However, according to prosecutor general of Tehran, one of the women have been accused for breaking the social norm of Islamic society by unethically promoting western promiscuity (Dearden 2016).
Mrayan and Saleh (2016) have stated that such detention of women for social infringement due to stringent social norms, values along with male predominance creates critical societal impediments for women within the society. However, majority of detentions are anticipated to be part of “Operation Spider II’ whereby several Iranian authorities have been aiming to safeguard the honour and social values for Muslims as well as national identity and eradicate unconstructive and unhealthy content on social media platform (Allred 2015).
At this juncture, Leach et al. (2016) often argue on comprehension of hijab or veiling that is an unequivocal instance of religious or communal fundamentalism as well as patriarchal oppression. Mainstream Muslim women are typically seen to be entirely covered by scarf and are perceived not as an indicator of choice or preference but as a significant symbol of a crucial purity culture highly obsessed with honour and virginity since the Saudi and Iranian regimes disseminated puritanical interpretations and misunderstandings of Sunni and Shia Islam following 1970 Saudi boom and the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
In the eyes of feminism, mandatory veiling or hijab is no less than oppression or violence for women (Allred 2015). Thus the fact that some women volunteer in wearing enforced religious garb and maintaining predominant social norms has been perceived as highly irrelevant. According to (Fahmy et al. (2018) the idea that women fail to gain her identity or undeserving of social dignity unless she covers or conceals herself from society is not self-autonomy or female empowerment but is viewed as a critical form of oppression of women.
However, Zakaria (2015) is of the perspective that hijab must be comprehended specifically through the lens of social oppression and social control theory. However, it has been stated that not all Muslim women tend to encounter mistreatment or similar extent to the ones women who have been posing oppositions in the norm of hijab wearing. Reports by authors have revealed that the control of Islamaphobic attacks has specified that women show greater propensity to be exposed to such critical detention if they refuse to wear full face veil, head scarf or hijab or any other form of clothing related to Islam (Leach et al. 2016). Undeniably, Zakaria (2015).
has critically analysed that negatively toward Muslim veils and the women who attire these clothing has been visible in social and radical dialogue on Islam. Weichselbaumer (2016) has found that the Muslim practice of ‘hijab’ is signified as a contentious, gendered and socially dominant religious tradition linked with the multi-faceted range of representative societal connotations. To certain women it is reflected as a critical symbol of domination as well as cultural disconnection, whereby to others it is regarded as an implementation in humility, religious devotion towards religion and adherence to social norms and values (Puar 2017).
Haines (2015) has posited that Islam typically appears to be related with numerous apprehensions, notions and categorizes in the eyes of Westerners. Mrayan and Saleh (2016) have cited that women wearing headscarves, the obligation of a normative community ethics embedded in puritanical and legislation interpretations of sacred texts. In addition to this, a rejection as well as abhorrence of the West along with its globalized culture and the yearning and need to segregate past and return to a significant pristine past along with a rapid alternative towards violence against the ones who possess certain form of disparities.
According to socio-normative theory, a veiled Muslim woman has long been perceived as the archetype of coercion and patriarchy of the Islamic world (Hodge, Husain and Zidan 2017). Such a representation however has revealed through the newspapers, media and politics along with arts and literature. Meanwhile, at this juncture, several social scientists have claimed that scarves or hijab should not be directly perceived as a lack of free determination (Allred 2015). The practices of veiling women has been devoted from their expectation to live reverently and uprightly along with the various forms of the Islamic clothing and headscarves have been perceived as tools which help to accomplish that. Thus, the veil is regarded as a representation of prospect and autonomy rather than one of domination,
supremacy and powerlessness. However, Bastos (2015) has stated that the reasons for veiling of Muslim women can be viewed as extensive and rather personal. Furthermore, while drawing significance from piousness wearing various Islamic garments and hijab can deliver diverse interpretations from circumventing being portrayed by men in infuriating the other section of the society (Hodge, Husain and Zidan 2017).
As has been proficiently illustrated by certain social scientists by reviewing the descriptions of Islam portrayed in the West, Muslim women are majorly represented in the Western conventional mass media in three specific ways as inactive, as sufferers or as veiled. However, these stereotypes however are strengthened by the detail that in the summary regarding Islamic community or in particular regarding women they were assumed the chance to articulate their sentiments – the speech about them nonetheless not with them (Haines 2015).
Furthermore, Nielsen and Schrøder (2014) have stated that women whose practices do not tend to conform to the conventional Islamic morals and standards emerge as issues to be contested with therefore finding them vulnerable to deviant tags. Hijabistas and hijabsters’ according to Haines (2015), emerge as problems from certain perspectives as these women tend to modify the customary stringent values yet the condition is neither undemanding nor upfront. Undoubtedly, Haines (2015) has stated that there can be identified critical coercions placed upon young women who intend to show strong sense of feminism by getting rid of hijab or any form of head coverage.
These modernized women encounter significant forms of pressures in order to entrench conservative Islamic outsets of what daily life must appear. Though, Fahmy et al. (2018) have stated that regardless of shared styles, hijabsters exhibit a significant lack of unified conceptual organization which British ethnic studies have credited following post Second World War youth cultures and groupings. Instead of expressing resistance towards headscarves through fashion style, contemporary young females have been signified as shared but spirited detection of freedom regimes. However, regardless of these terminological peculiarities, an implicitly paradoxical attributes have been found which apply to both identity labels (Mrayan and Saleh 2016).
On one hand, Hodge, Husain and Zidan (2017) have been evaluating about young Muslim women who have been showing resistance towards traditional patriarchal values, thus face detention either for their progressive thoughts or deviant potentials. While, on the additional side, whether supporters of open-minded policymaking, legislation and hijabsters are occasionally recognized in an incompatible situation in relation to traditional social judgments for control in everyday life (Fahmy et al. 2018).
Conclusion
Hence to conclude, the veil is one of those symbols which typically incites sense of oppression, fear and apprehension of Islam among women, yet hijab or burqa has attain a significant place in Islamic society and develop as the surface of Islam as if it characterized the complete method of life related to Islam. These representations and images along with political discourses which depend on them further tend to have truthful insinuations for Muslim women whose liberty, autonomy of preference have been constrained by the male-controlled schemes they live in. Thus, instead of arguing on signs and dress-codes like veils or headscarves, severe practice of consideration must be given to the significant issues concerning patriarchy and prejudice which form lives of the Muslim women.
References
Allred, K., 2015. Unveiling Assumptions: Photography, Word Politics, and the Hijab. Young Scholars In Writing, 11, pp.27-38.
Bastos, M.T., 2015. Shares, pins, and tweets: News readership from daily papers to social media. Journalism studies, 16(3), pp.305-325.
Dearden, L. 2016. Iranian women arrested for posting ‘vulgar’ photos on Instagram without wearing headscarves. Available from https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iranian-women-arrested-for-posting-vulgar-photos-on-instagram-without-wearing-headscarves-a7033236.html Accessed on 3rd December 2018.
Fahmy, W., Snook, B., Luther, K. and McCardle, M., 2018. Unveiling the Truth: The Effect of Muslim Garments and Face Covering on the Perceived Credibility of a Victim’s Court Testimony. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science.
Haines, C., 2015. Challenging Stereotypes: Randa Abdel-Fattah’s Use of Parody in Does My Head Look Big in This?. Bookbird: A Journal of International Children’s Literature, 53(2), pp.30-35.
Hodge, D.R., Husain, A. and Zidan, T., 2017. Hijab and Depression: Does the Islamic Practice of Veiling Predict Higher Levels of Depressive Symptoms?. Social work, 62(3), pp.243-250.
Leach, A.M., Ammar, N., England, D.N., Remigio, L.M., Kleinberg, B. and Verschuere, B.J., 2016. Less is more? Detecting lies in veiled witnesses. Law and human behavior, 40(4), p.401.
Mrayan, S.A. and Saleh, A., 2016. Not without their Hijab: Being a Muslim female student at a mid-southern university. RISE, 5(3), pp.244-267.
Nielsen, R.K. and Schrøder, K.C., 2014. The relative importance of social media for accessing, finding, and engaging with news: An eight-country cross-media comparison. Digital journalism, 2(4), pp.472-489.
Puar, J.K., 2017. Terrorist assemblages: Homonationalism in queer times. Duke University Press.
Weichselbaumer, D., 2016. Discrimination against female migrants wearing headscarves.
Zakaria, R., 2015. Women and Islamic militancy. Dissent, 62(1), pp.118-12
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