Why I Cover My Hair in Egypt

By Shira

Defying Stereotypes

It's human nature to stereotype people with whom we have minimal experience. If you ask someone who has no experience with Arabs to tell you what they know about them, they'll probably offer a description full of stereotypes. Depending on what they've heard, they may talk about Islam, terrorists, oil, conflicts with Israel, genies, camels, deserts, harems, veiled women, wars, etc. Arab people, in turn, have formed their own stereotypes of Americans, Europeans, Australians, and other Westerners. Many view us as being rich, sexually promiscuous, etc. These images come from movies, television, and the behavior of many tourists. They admittedly do apply to many Westerners, but not all of us. We don't all hop into bed on the first date the way so many characters in our movies and television shows do. We don't all cheat on our spouses. We're not all rich - in fact, many of us struggle to make ends meet financially. The problem with stereotypes is that people who believe them treat us according to those beliefs. A shopkeeper who believes that American and European women are promiscuous may grope a female tourist inappropriately when she is browsing in his store. The same shopkeeper who believes all Americans are rich will overcharge us for crappy-quality merchandise. When I travel to Egypt, I find it useful to choose attire that defies the stereotype of the typical American tourist. By looking radically different from most Western tourists, I force them to question how else I might differ from the stereotype. Because I don't fit their stereotype, they are more likely to treat me according to my behavior as an individual rather than according to their assumptions.

Gaining Respect

Egypt has a very different view of feminine beauty than North America, Europe, and Australia. In the West, many women choose clothing, hair styles, and makeup designed to make them look sexy. Even if they're happily in a monogamous relationship, women from our culture often still like to draw admiring glances from men as proof they still "have it." In contrast, many Egyptian men think a modest woman who conceals her attributes from the public eye is beautiful. When I have worn attire that completely covered my hair, neck, and upper chest, male Egyptian shopkeepers and flight attendants have made a point of telling me that I look "beautiful". Of course, they are professionals who treat all of their customers with a level of outward courtesy, but I sense a different level of deference and accommodation from them compared to what I have seen applied to women who have made other choices. Think of the difference in how you yourself might treat someone you respect versus someone you don't. How would you behave around a man whom you knew to be a wife-beater versus one you knew treated his wife with affection? How might you behave sitting next to a person in church with matted hair wearing filthy clothes versus a neatly-groomed person? You would probably try to be outwardly courteous to all these people, but you might be warmer to some than others. Other women have told me they have been inappropriately groped by Egyptian shopkeepers, camel ride operators, or strange men along the sidewalk. I find that the covered hair and corresponding clothing provide one level of protection against such passes because it makes me look like a woman who deserves respect. When I was in Egypt in 2004, one member of our group was wearing tight-fitting pants and a tight top with a low neckline. As we crossed a street in a conservative neighborhood that doesn't see many tourists, the driver of a passing car spat at her, hitting her companion in the face. He was showing her the respect he felt her attire deserved. I am confident this would never happen to a woman who wears the recommended clothing and covers her hair. In a documentary titled Covered - The Hejab in Cairo, Egypt that includes many interviews with Egyptian women, one interviewee states, "Men have not been educated to relate to a woman without the shield of a veil." Several interviewees make the point that they are less likely to be pestered by unwanted attentions from men if they wear hijjab. One states, "You should not put a piece of meat in front of a lion." This shows how many local Egyptian women view the role of clothing in defining how men deal with women in public places, and it offers those of us who visit as tourists something to think about.

Showing Respect for the Locals

Respect works two ways. We want the locals to treat us with respect, and the best way to achieve it is to dress and behave in ways that show that we in turn respect their culture. If one of your coworkers were to invite you to attend the wedding of his daughter, you would probably try to dress nicely. You probably would not wear the old shoes you use for gardening, a coffee-stained shirt, and torn blue jeans with a hole exposing your underwear. Your reason for dressing up would be to show respect for the occasion and the family. Similarly, when traveling to another country it's courteous to dress in a way that shows you know and care that their culture is different from your own. Locals notice and appreciate covered hair. When I bought a dress in a suburb of Cairo named Kerdassa which is near the pyramids, my driver negotiated the price for me in Arabic. At one point he pointed to my headdress. The final price I paid was 80 Egyptian pounds (just under $13.00) for a dress that normally is sold to tourists for 150 pounds ($25.00) As we left, the driver said that in the negotiation he told the shopkeeper he should give me a better price than he gives other tourists because my covered hair showed I was respectful of their culture. On a different occasion, a cab driver told me he let me pay the local rate instead of the tourist rate because of my covered hair. When I bought drums in the Mohammed Ali Street district, my guide indicated to the shopkeeper that my covered hair was a reason to give me a better price than they would give normal tourists. Other people I know who covered their hair have reported similar comments.

Opening Doors to Cultural Experiences

Once you have forced someone to view you as a person worthy of their respect, doors may open for you. When I was in Egypt in 1999 one of the hotel staff invited our group to come to his brother's wedding, which was occurring during our stay. He did not invite every hotel guest, just our group. Part of the reason for the invitation, of course, was that he knew Morocco (who was with us) due to her previous stays at the hotel. But he could have invited her alone, rather than all five of us. I'm sure he wouldn't have invited the rest of us if we had paraded around the neighborhood wearing shorts or tight-fitting Capri pants with tank tops. By dressing and behaving in a way that was respectable according to local standards, the rest of us made ourselves eligible to be included in a special experience. In 2005, a shopkeeper invited our group to come to his home for a hafla one evening, and to come to his daughter's birthday party the next evening. Now, certainly the fact that we had spent a great deal of money at his shop played a role in his decision to invite us. Just as an American sales person might take a customer out to lunch or out for a round of golf, so Egyptian shopkeepers will entertain customers in the shop with a glass of tea or bottle of Pepsi. But this shopkeeper is a man whose wife completely covers her face, only allowing her eyes to be exposed, when she is around strangers. An invitation to visit his home was truly an honor - an honor that we earned by not only spending money but also by showing ourselves to be worthy of meeting his wife and children.

Practical Stuff

When touring outdoor archeological sites such as the temples at Luxor, a scarf helps protect the scalp against sunburn. If I hide my hair, I can spend less time on washing and styling it. Less time spent on grooming means more time available for sleeping, relaxing, and sightseeing. Keeping my hair under a scarf helps keep it clean. Cairo is surrounded by a vast, sandy desert. The air is thick with dirt from there blown in by the wind. Covering my hair helps me keep it cleaner between washings. When touring outdoor archeological sites, winds may muss my hair. As a tourist, it's difficult to function with a high-maintenance hair style. Travel hair dryers don't always work - I've had several issues with this over the years. Hair styling equipment takes up a large amount of space in the suitcase, so it's easier to leave my usual hair care products at home. Tour schedules don't leave much time for washing and styling hair - they often involve long days that start early and end late, to allow time to see everything. I've come to like the simplicity of hiding my hair under a scarf after I wash it!

Not a Normal Tourist

As a perpetual student of Middle Eastern dance arts, I have an intense interest in not only the dance itself, but in understanding how it fits in the culture it comes from. Understanding the culture better will help me interpret the music better when I perform, will make me better qualified to answer the questions of my students, will equip me to talk more intelligently when interviewed by the media, and will make me more credible with ethnic audiences. I was a folk dancer even before I started studying Middle Eastern dance, so I appreciate seeing local folk dances done in their natural environment, by real folk at family occasions. I also like to travel to parts of town that are rich in local culture, to see what ordinary people look like living their normal lives. In Cairo, I sometimes want to travel to Sharia El Qalaa (Mohammed Ali Street, which is a very "baladi" part of town) to purchase musical instruments. In all these ways, I am not a typical American tourist. I go to places where normal tourists don't go, and I do things they don't do. People in these places are not accustomed to seeing tourists or interacting with them. They are more likely to be judgmental and disapproving of normal tourist attire than people who interact with tourists on a daily basis. Because people who rarely see tourists may be ill at ease around them, I try to dress and behave in a way that will make it easier for them to relax around me and be accepting of having me in their midst. When people tell you that it's not necessary to be so conservative, they're probably assuming you'll spend most of your time at a typical tourist hotel such as the Nile Hilton or Marriott, on tour buses, in tourist shopping areas, and in museums. That's what most tourists do. But I like to explore interesting places where people are less accustomed to seeing tourists, and covering my hair allows me to be better accepted in these environments that are off the tourist path.

So Why Do Egyptians Say It's Okay to Leave Hair Uncovered?

Egyptians who now live in the U.S. often say that it's not necessary to cover one's hair in Egypt. But it's important to remember that Egyptians who live in the U.S. are wealthier and more Westernized than most. Their experience with living in Egypt is usually based on life in the most affluent neighborhoods, as opposed to the working class parts of town that a "dance tourist" might wander into. Some Egyptians haven't spent much time in their home country in the past 10 years, and may not realize how much their society has changed in that time. When I was in Egypt in 1999, many women in the baladi neighborhoods wore little scarves that allowed much of their hair to show, but in 2006 exposed hair is rare. Egyptian shopkeepers and tour guides have tried to tell me that it's not necessary to cover my hair. They're right that a normal tourist can do without a scarf. But again, I'm not a normal tourist. And these people have an ulterior motive - they don't want Americans to be scared away from visiting Egypt because their livelihoods depend on tourism. They fear that if we all think we must conform to a certain dress code, we'll hesitate to come. Consequently, they try to portray Egypt as an "easy" place to visit. Some Egyptians who tell us we don't need to cover may be Coptic Christians or other non-Muslims, and their motive is to resist the increasing Muslim conservatism. Or, they may be feminists within their own culture, rebelling against this dress code expected of women.

A Feminist's Viewpoint

Many feminists rebel against the idea of conforming to what they consider to be restriction of women. I completely understand. I'm a feminist too. At home, in my own culture, I demand freedom equal to that of men. But when I'm not in my own culture, I find it is appropriate to temporarily place my Western feminism off to the side for a week or two. When I visit someone else's country, I'm the guest, and I have a responsibility to be a courteous one. To use an analogy, I don't smoke cigarettes. If I visit a smoker's home, I don't expect my host to quit smoking just because I visited and didn't smoke while there. Similarly, I don't expect the people who live in another country to change their cultural attitudes just because I, a tourist, visited and dressed the same way I would back home. There is a time and place for pursuing social change. But that time and place is not when going somewhere as a tourist! True and lasting change in a society needs to come from within. As a tourist, I'm an outsider, and I don't have the power to influence someone else's society during a short 2-week visit. I can do more for my country and my beliefs by being a courteous, respectful guest while there.

Closing Thoughts

Please don't think that every tourist who visits Egypt wearing tight-fitting pants and exposing her flowing hair will be groped or spat upon. Such bad behavior truly is rare. But the choices we make will determine which doors are opened to us, and I choose a path that will lead to the experience I want to have. I wish the locals to view me as someone who has dignity, someone who respects their culture and deserves their respect in return. A person could argue that many of my objectives stated above could be satisfied by wearing a loose-fitting high-necked long dress, without covering the hair too. It's true that such attire would come closer to meeting my needs than normal tourist garb. But for me covering the hair adds yet another level of positive experience beyond what a dress alone can do. Finally, in this article I've discussed in detail how attire has influenced the experiences I've had in Egypt. But of course behavior matters too. Acting flirtatious and "available" will destroy all the cultural benefits of wearing appropriate attire.

Acknowledgements