On the difference between the headscarf and the hijab

In my grandma's village, all married women were wearing a headscarf. Though there were some religious remnants to this custom (a woman's head must be covered before God), most of the women were simply wearing the head scarves. My grandma always said she's cold without it. Nobody actually gave a damn about their scarves, though occasionally they were used to distinguish between urban and rural women.

Now, given that, I ask myself why the big fuss about the hijab? Where does this fuss stem from? What is so offending? Definitely not the damn piece of cloth... I mean, if some women in Western cultures wore those scarves for generations, why do we have a problem with them now?

A Calgary girl was recently prohibited from playing football because she was wearing a hijab. Now, the official reasoning is that her hijab is dangerous, cause someone can pull it during the game and hurt her. Hm, then why don't we play football naked? I mean, someone could pull our T-shirts and shorts and hurt us...

According to a UK survey done in 2006-2007, media coverage of Muslims was found to be permeated by several ideas: that there is no common ground between West and Islam, that Muslims in Britain are a threat to British traditions and ways of life, and that generally the facts were distorted and feelings of insecurity and hatred were being fosters on all sides.






Photo credits: prettydougla; aussiegal; Thomas Frederik