Should Michelle Obama (and others) have worn a head scarf?

[CrazyTights]

www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2015/01/27/michelle-obama-forgoes-a-headscarf-and-sparks-a-backlash-in-saudi-arabia/

Should she (and other females from the west) have worn a head scarf in Saudi or was going without one acceptable?

[LonnyVonnyWilsonFrickett]

X posts. the pope is a religious leader though - the context is different. I don't know if they met in Rome, but if they did, I'm pretty sure she wouldn't wear a veil for the other parts of the trip.

[lem73]

I was curious about what the queen does when visiting muslim countries because she is an expert in dressing for the occasion! I looked online and I came across a story about how she drove King Abdullah around her estate. According to a former ambassador it was a sneaky way of expressing a feminist opinion. Go queenie! Unfortunately I'm shit at doing links but it's pretty easy to find the story if you're interested.

[SconeRhymesWithGone]

Oh, and the Queen hugged Michelle back (well sorta)

[SconeRhymesWithGone]

Go queenie!

And she could have probably fixed the car if it had broken down, being a trained mechanic and all. Good for her.

[Marmiteandjamislush]

Not all Jewish men where Payot and Shtreimel, though. Prince Charles has been pictured ina Kippah, though

[lem73]

Ooh and just found a picture of Michelle Obama wearing a black veil when meeting the pope. I don't think she's catholic and it's not a religious requirement anyway. So she's willing to do it for some religions and not others. Clearly in Saudi Arabia she thought it was the right time to make a political statement. Clever.

[lillamyy1]

Marmite, I know someone would pull me up on that comment, but when in Morocco I met a girl who had had a guy wank onto her back while she was browsing his stall and a snake-charmer I had been talking to shook my hand then pressed it against his erect penis
I am in no way anti-Muslim, and these guys were obviously an exception, but... point illustrated!

[lillamyy1]

And BTW, I despise the Daily Mail.

[EveDallasRetd]

Queen Rania is stunning.

[SconeRhymesWithGone]

But wearing a black veil (unless you are a Catholic queen, in which case you wear white) is (maybe was?) protocol for meeting the Pope. I think the protocol in Saudi Arabia is that a head covering is optional in these circumstances. MO chose the option not to wear it.

[Marmiteandjamislush]

lillamy, you said you had heard of, not that you had experienced sexual assault against western women in Muslim countries at first, that did sound Daily Mail like.

[AgentCooper]

If I were her, I'd have worn a scarf just to acknowledge the custom of the country.

But I know 7 Saudi women from ages 21-40 through my work and we spoke about this today. These are women who are highly educated and smart. They are committed to their Muslim faith, some wear the hijab, some the niqab. Not one of them gave a fuck about MO not covering. They all like her! One of them sighed: "this is what the West wants to hear about how ordinary Saudis think and feel. They wouldn't listen if we said anything different."

[GingerCuddleMonster]

I've been to events in other countries involving "important people with diplomatic passports", where it was expected of me to wear a head scarf, I wore one. I don't feel oppressed or put out, to be honest I thought it looked quite pretty and framed my face but there we go .

If she didn't want to wear it she shouldn't have to. I was impartial and just did it as I believed it to be the done thing and all that jazz.

[GrumpyKitty]

This thread has dragged me out of lurking:) I used to live in SA. Ok, I was a kid at the time, but a remarkably feminist and somewhat observant kid, so an awful lot of conversations were had on the subject of women's rights/subjugation.
IMO, Michelle Obama was right not to wear a hijab. It isn't/wasn't in the least bit disrespectful.

From Bonsoir:
" If she goes to Saudi Arabia she should respect the laws and customs of the country she is visiting and cover her head. "
It isn't a law, and none of the foreign women wore headscarves while we were there, although most did wear abayas in public. Not all Muslim women wore headscarves, either - for instance there has been an awful lot of fuss over the years about presenters of Arabic TV shows showing their hair, wearing Western dress, etc, but many continue to dress as they choose.

[lillamyy1]

Yeah Marmite, didn't reeeeally want to share that story...not my finest hour!

[Samcro]

i think she should have.
by not doing so, she got what she wanted
attention

[littleducks]

Apparently it wasn't really that controversial.......

www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-31019565

I doubt the Saudis really care that much.

[Italiangreyhound]

She was totally right not to. As the article says "Exceptions are made for foreigners, however, and Michelle – who did wear loose clothing that fully covered her arms – appears to have been one of them. In photographs from the official events, other foreign female guests are also shown not wearing headscarves."

When I have visited mosques I have covered my hair with a scarf. I felt it was the right thing to do and even when I visited a closed brethren type church I wore a head covering (as is the the custom).

But in this situation MO was free to choose and she chose. Sounds like other women in that country may not get these choices so good on her for exercising her right to choose.

[TheNewStatesman]

I have gone to conservative religious parts of the world and have dressed in a way that follows the rules, basically.

The flip side of that is that I think this cuts both ways. I don't like facial veiling in public places in the UK and countries where this is considered inappropriate by a lot of people. I don't think it should be banned/illegal, but I don't much like it either.

[Moniker1]

You can be put in jail for inappropriate dressing in Saudi, those saying they are respecting the religion are not necessarily right, they are in fact respecting the law of a repressive country.

[Vivacia]

I think she absolutely did right, and cheered when I saw her photos yesterday.

[gordonpym]

Well done Michelle Obama!

[Ubik1]

I thought it was diplomatic agreement not to cover head.

Quite right too.