Dis-covering Muslim Women: A Survey of Recent Literature on Veiling

 VI 
The main purpose of these writers is to approach the issue without 
prejudice or preconceptions and without being ethnocentric; this kind of 
approach gives the scholar the advantage of being objective and not 
influenced by his/her own culture. 
Amongst these writers of both American and European origin there 
are non-Western writers, such as Arabs in general, Egyptians or 
Iranians who helped me to have a different idea of the Muslim world 
and to refute the biases and commonplaces about Islam. 
The veil has been and still is a matter of study that generates a large 
literature: many publications regarding the veil as a practice, as a 
cultural phenomenon and as a tool of oppression  have been written, 
and each scholar or journalist has tried to give an explanation of what 
the veil is, what its meaning is and why it is worn. 
First, each author has an individual opinion of the matter: the veil 
stands for oppression, the veil stands for liberation, the veil is a matter 
of free and personal choice,  a religious or  rather a socio-cultural 
expression. Secondly, we have to consider the history of the veil, its use 
and value in different countries and contexts and the importance it has 
at present. Thirdly, the veiling issue is often misunderstood; the huge 
                                                                                                                                                                  
3
 The articles are available from different Web sites: 
www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282; consulted on 21.03.2006; 
www.isop.ucla.edu/cnes/home/article.asp?parentid=14575; consulted on 
09.07.2006; 
www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3752; consulted on 22.04.2006; 
http.//independent.gmnews.com; consulted on 11.07.2006.