Survey shows how Muslims prefer women to dress in public

Khourebga, Morocco – The University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research conducted a survey in seven countries where Islam is the dominating religion. The survey was about how people prefer to see women dressed in all of Tunisia, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

The survey conductors proceeded through a visual questionnaire. Each survey participant was provided with a card on which six styles of women’s headdress and was asked to pick the most appropriately dressed figure for a public place. The card displayed only pictures without any further description or labeling. The headdress styles ranged from a fully covered head to a non-covered one.

Photo (1) was a Burqaa; a head and face wear with a net fabric on the eyes zone to ease sight. Photo (2) a Niqab; (of Arabic language) a black veil covering head and face freeing only an inch or so for eye sight. It may be likened to a Ninja warrior concealment head wear. Photo (3) and (4) were less conservative hijab: (of Arabic), refers to the religious covering of head only. Photo (5) was a liberal hijab; where parts of hair fringe and the neck were loosely covered or not covered at all, while photo (6) showed a woman with no head dress at all.

The findings of the survey were mostly culture bound; however, most respondents chose photo (4) as the most appropriate head dress for a public place. Percentages were as follows: 57% in Tunisia, 52 % in Egypt, 46% in Turkey and 44% in Iraq. In Pakistan, there was an interesting result as respondents diverged in opinion between photos (2), (3) and (4). Percentages came successively as 32%, 31% and 24%. Saudi Arabia participants widely chose photo (2) with a 62%.

In most liberal countries like Turkey, Lebanon and Tunisia, the survey revealed that 49% of Lebanese, 32% of Turks and 15% of Tunisians chose photo (6) as the most appropriate form women should appear in. it is worth noting, though, that Lebanon is not entirely a Muslim country as it is home to a 27% of Christians.