« Need a breeze? | Main | Mausi, the Hunter »
September 16, 2006
The Heads beneath the Scarves
Eight years ago there was big discussion in Germany because a young womam named Fereshda Ludin seeked employment as a teacher in the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg. In Germany teachers are civil servants. Ms Ludin is a Muslim and she wanted to keep wearing a scarf around her head in school. Apart from the scarf her way of dressing is very much Western European and her German flawless, as can be expected from a teacher.
The State of Baden-Würrtemberg refused to employ her stating that the scarf was a symbol islamic fundamentalism incompatible with working as a civil servant in a Christian society. The case was taken to court and Ms Ludin lost her case. The outcome of it was that most of the Federal States in Gemany issued a ban on scarfs for teachers or others seeking employing in the civil service.
Looking back it seems a bit astonishing that during the heated discussion in the media so little attention was given to the actual heads underneath the scarves. What did they think about religion and fundamentalism? Why did they want to wear a scarf around their heads at all? A common prejudice was that they had been forced to do so by brothers, fathers or husbands.
Recently a study has been carried out by the Adenauer foundation among 315 Turkish women of all ages from different parts in Germany. These women had all kinds of educational backgrounds, some had obtained German citizenship, some had jobs, some were housewives and staying at home.
If the scarf were indeed a symbol of islamic fundamentalism one would expect to find quite a number of fundamentalists among the 315 women. Interestingly, however, 90% of them wished for a democratically elected government. This is not much different from the average German population. What makes it even more significant is the fact the women not only came from three inconspicuous congregations in Berlin, Hamburg and Stuttgart but also from a certain Mosque in Aachen which is under surveillance by German authorities. One would therefore clearly have expected to find a certain number of fundamentalists among the women.
But quite contrary: the results obtained by questioning the Turkish women about the importance of marriage and partnership, personal freedom, financial security, jobs or children were not at all different from those that had been gathered form questioning German women during the last years. The signifcant difference was that the Turkish women were by far more religious than the German women.
Then why the scarf? By far the most said that brothers, fathers and husbands had nothing to do with their decision to wear a scarf. They said instead that it is proper for a female muslim to wear a scarf and that they did it voluntarily. They also claimed that the scarf gave them a certain amount of self-confidence. This may be explained by one third of them saying they believed that they were especially dear to Allah, although two thirds believed everyone is equal before God.
I think it's high time for a proper dialogue to begin between different groups in our society. Far too long ethnic groups have been allowed to live only among themselves. Often Turkish citizens of the second generation are even less integrated into German society than their parents. But a society can only function if we know each other's thoughts, needs and ambitions. Just basing your verdicts on prejudices will not do.
Posted by Mausi at September 16, 2006 07:30 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://mt3.mu.nu/mt/mt-tb.cgi/4666