Disclaimer: That’s not me on the left there, but a lovely image from Flickr.

I have a bit of a guilty pleasure to report. I went out in niqab “face-veil” today, and a black one at that! I’ve quite a collection now, as I had bought some outfits from an Indian store that gave you a complimentary matching niqab with every outfit LOL. So I even have one that is royal blue and see-through!! Orientalists eat your heart out.

Whilst I always wear a headscarf, I don’t often wear a face-veil. Mostly because I don’t believe it is obligatory for Muslim women to wear it, it’s not that common among the women of the madhhab “school of sacred law” I follow (least not these days), and people in Australia don’t often cope that well with seeing Muslim women in niqab.

I’m not quite sure what possessed me today, except I’ve been reading a cognitive behavioural therapy book recommended to me, and one of the activities described to help overcome the ‘disease-to-please’, is to do something that takes you out of your comfort zone, something of which other people might ‘disapprove’.

I quite like wearing niqab, but I also quite like not having to wear niqab. I would probably wear it a lot more due to the privacy it offers me–relief from the panopticon of the male gaze–except that it tends to evoke negative reactions in non-Muslims (and some Muslims). Plus, although my university is very open and progressive in comparison to many workplaces, I am not sure how wearing it might affect my future employment.

Today I was just nicking up to the local shopping centre. The shop staff were all very helpful, and I even had two staff with Muslim name-tags. I got a few blank stares as I walked around, but nothing too different than what I got a few years ago just wearing a headscarf.  That could also depend on my location (lots of Muslims around, but not that many in niqab actually). I do wish I lived in a society where wearing niqab was about as remarkable as someone with L’Oreal highlights.