For many of us, the veil is a symbol of lack of freedom and enslavement, but how do those who wear it perceive themselves and their bodies?
Psychologists from the University of Westminster were interested, which of the women is more dissatisfied with their body – those whose forms are only slightly guessed behind the folds of clothes, or those who wear European clothes and even allow themselves piercings and tattoos? On the streets of London, 369 women wearing hijabs were found (it turned out to be easy), and then another 118 Muslim women in European clothes (1). The youngest of the participants was 18, the oldest 70, so the experiment can be considered clean. And also extremely important, given how significant this trend – dissatisfaction with one’s own appearance – is in modern society and how much the achievements of the cosmetic industry are due to it.
“Which of these women would you like to be like?” the members of both groups were asked and presented with shots ranging from big-eyed Twiggy girls to healthy plus-size models. Ladies in hijabs unexpectedly chose those who were close in size to themselves: fat women – fat women, thin ones – thin ones.
“What are you more afraid of: getting better; eat something from which you can get better; go on a diet, but stay the same? .. ” Of the six items on this test about typically female fears, only 2,87 were scored by those who hid their bodies from prying eyes, and 3,58 by participants in ordinary clothes.
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The shamelessly edited photo of the beauty was considered real by more than half of the participants in European clothes. Moreover, they noted that they would like to strive for such a figure, despite the fact that from the point of view of physiology, such parameters of the human body in real life would be impossible.
As a result, contrary to assumptions, it turned out that the image of one’s own body, self-image was more negative among Westernized Muslim women, and for women in traditional clothes, the hijab served as a kind of screen behind which they felt calm and did not worry about prying eyes, continuing to love themselves. the way Allah created them.
Although everything is not so clear: after all, the face remains open to the views of strangers! And the number of operations to correct the shape of the nose in Iran currently exceeds the number of operations in the United States by 7 (!) times, for which this country received the unspoken title of “world capital of rhinoplasty”. And the cosmetic industry in the Arab countries is experiencing a real boom.
1. Viren Swami et al. «Is the hijab protective? An investigation of body image and related constructs among British Muslim women», British Journal of Psychology, 2012.