The Culturalization of the Headscarf

Abstract

While trying to understand the webs of meaning and experiences of the headscarf among lower middle-class, nonuniversity-educated women working in sales jobs, I was struck by a significant gap between what I saw in the field and what I read in the literature dealing with the headscarf issue in Turkey. The urban headscarf in the literature figured as a clear declaration of Islamic identity, of which it was an inseparable part. In some studies, it implied a collective identity and a loaded statement embedded in the modern discourse of identity politics. It was a claim to transform not only the exclusionary public sphere but also the “traditional, docile Muslim woman” image toward a socially active, conscious Muslim woman. In others, especially those focusing on the “tesettür fashion,” it carried an implicit challenge against the Westernized, secular women’s monopoly over being middle class and “tasteful.” These crisp, smooth storylines did not resonate with what I saw in the field. In the narratives of lower middle-class, young, urban, non-universityeducated saleswomen, the meanings of the headscarf were much more blurred, fragmented, and continuously negotiated.