Hello out there!?
I was doing a touch of light reading just now, and I came across a post on a story run by NPR out of the States.
If you listen to the story, it's about how Dunkin Donuts (yummy!) pulled an on-line commercial in which the American chef Rachel Ray was wearing a keffiyah (also spelled keffiyeh - another phonetic from the Arabic) around her neck. What the story said, essentially, is that conservatives were upset because they felt she was sporting some terrorist symbol. Huh? Say what?
Ok. A touch of background from a woman who knows something about this (I'm no expert, but I live in the middle east, hello!!!). The keffiyah is a traditional men's headcovering worn in various places around the middle east. In Saudi and the Gulf countries, I believe it is called a ghutra (all white ones only, I think). It has another name if worn as a face coverning. So just like the names get rather technical for women's coverings here, they also get rather technical for men's coverings.
A lady wore a black and white keffiyah to work and had to stop wearing it because of the controversy it caused.
Well, I was a bit shocked at this point. I myself almost never leave the house without some kind of shawl or headcovering (headcoverings I usually just drape around my neck like a scarf and then pull up over head if I deem it appropriate). With all the roaming I have done, I would never wear a men's headcovering. I am a woman and to wear a man's headcovering just seems odd to me. If I wore one here, people would probably be offended and think I'd lost some of my marbles. The keffiyah is a practical piece of clothing - for men. It keeps the sun off and the dust off and or out (two of the same reasons I sport a headcovering here). If my husband wore one (he's not from this region), people would take offense because it is so associated with nationality. For women, it is thought to be modest and appropriate to wear a headcover but not a keffiyah. I have found that a woman's headcovering is exceptionally comfortable for hiking. It's cooler than a hat, keeps dust out of my ears, and still protects me from the sun. A fashion statement? I don't know, but it is definitely a practical thing in my world. For my favorite headcovering, I paid the equivalent of $3 U.S.
Here's an article out of New York about wearing a keffiyah as 'fashion' (Note to my conservative readers: this is a link to an alternative newspaper. There are photos and articles here you might find offensive. But, the filters in place in my current country did not block this website.)
And, here's a link to Wikipedia on the topic:
So....now that I have had time to think on this a bit, I really find all this controversy around wearing a keffiyah fascinating. It seems to me, we are seeing some very different cultures encounter one another. Here in the middle east, the keffiyah is a symbol of one's nationality and maybe even a symbol of one's 'tribe' or Bedouin roots. In the West, it's being used as a funky fashion thing, a political statement, or maybe....as a symbol of solidarity with brothers and sisters in the middle east? Maybe, rather than as a symbol of hate, wearing a keffiyah (even by a woman), could become a symbol of wanting to accept and care about people from a different culture and maybe a different religion. Maybe, rather than thinking of the keffiyah as a symbol of being anti-Israeli, thinking of it as a way of trying to bridge the gap between the middle east and the west. This world desperately needs to find ways of seeing others in terms of 'global community' and not global disunity or differences. We are all human. Our humanity, our common humanity should be what comes first. When I have worn a headcovering in Oman, when I have worn an abaya, it has brought warm smiles and hellos from local women. Those pieces of clothing were a way to bridge the gap; maybe gain some understanding? Hopefully, people will stop thinking of the keffiyah (anywhere on the globe) as a symbol of hate, but simply see it as the practical comfortable ethnic piece of clothing that it is.
And last but not least, the pic is of some of my shawls and headcoverings. The plain brown one in the middle is my favorite headcovering, and the black and brown shawl from Pakistan (courtesy of a good friend) is also a favorite.
Peace.
