Headscarf
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A headscarf is a scarf covering most or all of the top of a person's, usually women's, hair and head, leaving the face uncovered. A headscarf is formed of a triangular cloth or a square cloth folded into a triangle, with which the head is covered.[1]
Purposes
Headscarves may be worn for a variety of purposes, such as protection of the head or hair from rain, wind, dirt, cold, warmth, for sanitation, for fashion, recognition or social distinction; with religious significance, to hide baldness, out of modesty, or other forms of social convention.[2][3] Headscarves are now mainly worn for practical, cultural or religious reasons.
Until the latter 20th century, headscarves were commonly worn by women in many parts of the Southwestern Asia, Europe, North Africa, and the Americas, as well as some other parts of the world. In recent decades, headscarves, like hats, have fallen out of favor in Western culture. They are still, though, common in many rural areas of Eastern Europe as well as many areas of the Middle East.
A form of headscarf, known as the hijab, is commonly seen in Muslim countries and is born out of qur'anic tradition. It is worn primarily by Muslim women for religious purposes, and its style varies by culture.[4] In Eastern Orthodox culture, headscarves are worn by women while attending the church. In contrast to Islamic culture in Eastern Orthodox cultures women today often wear the headscarf very loosely so that part of the hair can be seen. While in Islamic and Christian Orthodox cultures the headscarf is a element which is worn by regular religious women or is a regular part of religious rituals in general, in Christian Catholic and Protestant cultures today only nuns cover their hair with a robe.[5][6]
Religious use
Headscarves may specifically have a religious significance or function, or be expected as a matter of social custom, the two very often being confused.
Islam
Islam promotes modest dress among men and women. Many Muslim women wear a headscarf, often known as a hijab and in Quranic Arabic as the khimar. Many of these garments cover the hair, ears and throat, but do not cover the face. The Keffiyeh is commonly used by Muslim men, as for example Yasser Arafat who adopted a black and white fishnet-patterned keffiyeh as a hallmark.
Headscarves and veils are commonly used by observant Muslim women and girls, so that no one has the right to expose her beauty but except her husband, father, son, brother, uncles, grandfather. The Muslim religious dress varies, and various cultures include burqa, chador, niqab, dupatta, or other types of hijab. The religion prescribes modest behaviour or dress in general, and in particular the headscarf worn by Muslim women and girls.[7]
Judaism
Judaism, under Halakhah (Jewish Law), promotes modest dress among women and men. Many married Orthodox Jewish women wear a headscarf (mitpahat or tichel), snood, turban, or shpitzel to cover their hair. The Tallit is commonly worn by Jewish men especially for prayers, which they use to cover their head in order to recite the blessings, although not all men do this. It also may not apply to the entire prayer service, sometimes only specific sections such as the Amidah. The Kohanim (priests) also cover their heads and shoulders with the tallit during the priestly blessing, so as to conform to Halakah which states that the hands of the priests should not be seen during this time as their mystical significance to the hand position.
Christianity
The Christian Bible mandates that women wear a headcovering when praying and worshipping in 1 Corinthians 11:4–13, while men are to pray and worship with their head uncovered.[8][9] Christian headcovering with an opaque cloth veil was the practice of the early Church, being universally taught by the Church Fathers and practiced by Christian women throughout the early modern era,[10][11][12][13] continuing to be the ordinary practice among Christians in many parts of the world, such as Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Ethiopia, India, Pakistan, and South Korea.[14] To some extent, the covering of the head depended on where the woman was, but it was usual outside and on formal occasions, especially when praying at home and worshipping in church.[14][15] Certain styles of Christian headcoverings were an indication of married status; the "matron's cap" is a general term for these.[8] Women who did not wear headcoverings were interpreted to be "a prostitute or adulteress".[8][9] In Europe,[where?] law stipulated that married women who uncovered their head in public was evidence of her infidelity.[16] The Roman Catholic Church required all women to wear a Christian headcovering over their hair in church until the 1980s; in Spain, these take the form of the mantilla. Women meeting the Pope in formal audiences are still expected to wear them. Martin Luther, the German Reformer, as well as John Calvin, a major figure in the Reformed Churches, also expected women to cover their heads in church, as did John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Churches.[17]
In many rural areas, women, especially widows, continue to observe the traditional Christian custom of headcovering, especially in the Mediterranean, as well as in eastern and southern Europe; in South Asia, it is common for Christian women to wear a headcovering called a dupatta.[18][14] At times the styles of covering using simple cloth became very elaborate, with complicated layers and folding, held in place with hair pins. Among the many terms for head-coverings made of flexible cloth are wimple, hennin, kerchief, gable hood, as well as light hats, mob caps and bonnets.[citation needed]
Many Anabaptist Christian women (Amish/Para-Amish, Brethren, Bruderhof, Hutterites and Mennonites) wear their headscarf at all times, except when sleeping.[19]
In countries with large Eastern Orthodox Christianity population such as Romania[20] or Russia[21] headscarves and veils are used by Christian women in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church, Assyrian Church of the East, and Roman Catholic Church.[22][23][24] A few years back, all women in Russia who attended Divine Liturgy wore head-coverings. A woman having her head covered means that she honors the Lord. Head-coverings also symbolizes that a woman is married and that her husband is the head of the family. Little girls also have their heads covered when they go to Mass at church, not because they are married, but in order to honor the Lord. Today, young Russian Orthodox women and little girls still cover their heads when going to church, although it differs in style from those worn by women of older age (grandmothers).[citation needed]
Some English speakers use the word "babushka" (the word for "grandma" in Template:Lang-ru) to indicate a headscarf tied below the chin, as still commonly worn in rural parts of Europe. In many parts of Europe, headscarves are used mainly[citation needed] by elderly women, and this led to the use of the term "babushka", an East Slavic word meaning "grandmother". Some types of head coverings that Russian women wear are: circlet, veil, and wimple.
Sikhism
Young Sikhs often wear a cloth wrapping to cover their hair, before moving on to the turban. Older Sikhs may wear them as an under-turban.
Use while working
Practical reasons for headscarf use at work include protection from bad weather and protection against industrial contamination, for example in dusty and oily environments. A headscarf can ensure that the hair does not interfere with the work and get caught-up in machinery since long hair can get into rotating parts of machines, so this is avoided either by means of a suitable head covering like a cap, hairnet or kerchief; cutting the hair short; or by putting on a headscarf. Hygiene also requires wearing a head cover at some workplaces, for example in kitchens and hospitals. Such usage has gone on since about 1900, when women's use of mob caps and Dutch bonnets declined.
Workers wore them at work to protect their hair from dirt. Farmers used them to see off the weather and dirt. Soviet labour units of the 1930s and 1940s wore them as part of their uniform (where uniforms were available). This habit was common until about the 1950s in the West for farmers and 1960s factory workers, and 1970s in the former USSR for farmers and factory workers.
In popular culture
Hilda Ogden, popular character from the UK soap opera Coronation Street portrayed by Jean Alexander, became famous throughout the nation for combining a headscarf with hair curlers. So famous was she that, in 1982, she came fourth behind the Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth II, and Diana, Princess of Wales in a poll of the most recognisable women in Britain.[25]
Image gallery
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School girls in Herat, Afghanistan
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Oil on canvas painting by Vittore Ghislandi, called Fra Galgario
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Distribution of Communion at a Tridentine Mass, women typically wear a headcovering.
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A woman selling flowers. Egypt, 1906
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Assyrian Christian women wearing headcoverings and modest clothing praying in Mart Maryam Church in Urmia, Iran
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Girls dressed up for a parade wear matching yellow headscarves. 2009, New Orleans, Louisiana.
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Woman with a headscarf in Gambia
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Egypt, 1935
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A headscarf for chefs; Los Angeles, 2007
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Three Turkish women wearing headscarves, 2003
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Laughing woman in Kuala Lumpur wearing a blue headscarf, 2008.
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A Malaysian girl wearing a headscarf, 2010.
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Women typical dress and headscarf; Nazaré, Portugal, 2006.
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Salvadoran women wear distinctive regional veils for national celebrations.
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A young Somali woman in a traditional headscarf.
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A cancer patient in a head scarf after losing her hair due to Chemotherapy.
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An Afghan girl wears an Islamic style scarf at the International Women's Day celebration in Pajshir in 2008.
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A Chinese man with headscarf in his fashion costume.
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Scarved Moksha girls in traditional costumes.
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Amenhotep II in a Nemes headcloth.
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The Molokans (Russian: Молока́не) are a religious sect, among Russian peasants (serfs), who broke away from the Russian Orthodox Church in the 1550s. Molokans denied the Czar's divine right to rule and rejected icons.
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An early 19th-century Russian silk embroidered headscarf.[26]
See also
- Bandana
- Christian headcovering
- Head tie
- Headscarf controversy in Turkey
- Islamic dress in Europe
- Mathabana
- Shalwar Kameez
- Tichel
- Turban
- Veil
References
- ^ Amber Nicole Alston. "Conservative, rebellious, culture-defining: A brief history of the headscarf". CNN. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
- ^ rosaliegilbert.com - Veils, Wimples and Gorgets
- ^ christianity.stackexchange.com - What happened to the practice of women covering their heads?
- ^ Sparrow, Mary (9 July 2018). "Understanding the Veil: A Primer in Muslim Women's Head Coverings [Photo Gallery]". International Mission Board. Archived from the original on 9 July 2018. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
- ^ Yegorov, Oleg (11 December 2019). "Why do women cover their heads in Orthodox churches?". www.rbth.com. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
- ^ Barbara Weiß, Bayerischer Rundfunk (12 July 2016). "Religion und Glaube in Bayern: Orthodoxe Kirche" (in German).
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(help) - ^ al-islam.org - Why Hijab?
- ^ a b c Hunt, Margaret (11 June 2014). Women in Eighteenth Century Europe. Taylor & Francis. p. 58. ISBN 9781317883876.
- ^ a b Safran, Linda (21 March 2014). The Medieval Salento: Art and Identity in Southern Italy. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 112. ISBN 9780812245547.
- ^ Bercot, David W. (1992). Common Sense: A New Approach to Understanding Scripture. Scroll Publishing Co. p. 68. ISBN 978-0-924722-06-6.
Hippolytus, a leader in the church in Rome around the year 200, compiled a record of the various customs and practices in that church from the generations that preceded him. His Apostolic Tradition contains this statement: "And let all the women have their heads covered with an opaque cloth, not with a veil of thin linen, for this is not a true covering." This written evidence of the course of performance of the early Christians is corroborated by the archaeological record. The pictures we have from the second and third centuries from the catacombs and other places depict Christian women praying with a cloth veil on their heads. So the historical record is crystal clear. It reveals that the early generation of believers understood the head covering to be a cloth veil—not long hair.
- ^ "Veil". Early Christian Dictionary. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
- ^ Earle, Alice Morse (1903). Two Centuries of Costume in America, Vol. 2 (1620–1820). The Macmillan Company. p. 582.
One singular thing may be noted in this history, – that with all the vagaries of fashion, woman has never violated the Biblical law that bade her cover her head. She has never gone to church services bareheaded.
- ^ "The Ultimate Guide to Christian Head Coverings". Saint John the Evangelist Orthodox Church. 26 October 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
- ^ a b c Mingus, Elaine (19 May 2015). "Christian Headcovering in India". The Head Covering Movement.
There were many times that a woman would be called into prayer while preparing a meal. Instead of running to get a head scarf, she would grab a readily available dish towel to cover her head instead.
- ^ Françoise Piponnier and Perrine Mane; Dress in the Middle Ages; pp. 40, 78-81, 95, 121, Yale UP, 1997; ISBN 0300069065
- ^ Weitz, Rose (12 January 2005). Rapunzel's Daughters: What Women's Hair Tells Us About Women's Lives. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p. 20. ISBN 9781429931137.
- ^ Wesley, John (1987). Wesley's Notes on the Bible. Christian Classics Ethereal Library. p. 570. ISBN 9781610252577.
- ^ Boultwood, Anne; Hindle, Sian (8 February 2018). Culture, Costume and Dress. Gold Word Publishing. p. 80. ISBN 9781909379268.
- ^ Almila, Anna-Mari; Inglis, David (6 July 2017). The Routledge International Handbook to Veils and Veiling. Taylor & Francis. p. 296. ISBN 9781317041146.
- ^ "Women's Headcoverings". The Orthodox Life. 4 February 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ^ "Head Covering History"
- ^ "On Account of the Angels: Why I Cover My Head", orthodoxinfo.com
- ^ "Head Covering Among Catholic Laity", a PDF-download page. academia.edu.
- ^ "Veiling in Church: Mantilla Manifesto". altcatholicah.com
- ^ Little, Daran (1995). The Coronation Street Story, p.188. London: Boxtree. ISBN 1-85283-464-1
- ^ "Headscarf | Russian | The Met". The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
External links
- Media related to Headscarves at Wikimedia Commons