Let's talk from the beginning: the headscarf experiences of women of our time

In the history of Turkey's modernization, especially in the Republican period, the question of dress and attire has held a central place within the regime change's effort to prove itself. In terms of the sociology of the body, the situation that unfolded can also be expressed as follows. In order to organize a new political body, the new regime tried to establish its own body upon the organs of the old political body (the regime) by tearing it apart (dis-organizing it). It found the shortest route to this in planting its own symbols upon individual bodies. That is why the hat law was not merely a change of appearance or a practice of becoming civilized; it displayed, upon individual bodies themselves, the will to exercise its own power and to bring individuals under discipline.

The practice of embodying its own body through dress and attire generally targeted, in the early years of the Republic, the male body, through the hat and certain garbs. Although policies of extending power over women's clothing through different strategies were also applied, at the first stage the claim over bodies was made through men, by way of the hat. But later, when male bodies had apparently reached a sufficient level of discipline, the female body too began to become a serious problem through the headscarf. The interesting part of the matter is that, long after women had acquired a sufficiently Western appearance through these strategies, from the late seventies and the early eighties onward, the headscarf came almost as a revolt against the body politics in question. That is why the language of power responded to the headscarf, as a reflex, with the rhetoric of reaction (irtica) or the "ghoul."

There is no doubt that the women who chose to wear the headscarf represented all the characteristics of the "free, autonomous, individual woman" typology that had been claimed for years in Turkey far more than the Kemalists did. For with the headscarf they wore, they were able to dare to confront the state, fashion and aesthetic perceptions, their social circles, and often even their own families. Could there be a greater claim to individuality, to freedom than this? Yet the myth against them was that they wore their headscarves by giving up their own freedom and often under the compulsion of their families. This was the refuge-myth that the secular-Kemalists never tired of voicing for years about the headscarved woman.

Yet very strong sociological analyses had been made to the effect that headscarved women were living the peak experience of individuality by wearing the headscarf. Moreover, the same sociological analyses were made years later about women who experienced taking off the headscarf. The woman who takes off her headscarf, too, undergoes a struggle within herself and against her surroundings, and in this struggle, though of a different kind, lives an individual experience. With one difference, of course: the encouragement and favor that those who take off the headscarf have seen from the secular lifestyle's power, in particular, was something those who decided to cover their heads never encountered. As is well known, covering one's head meant being expelled from school, being isolated from social circles, even causing displeasure within one's own family.

The great interest seen in secular circles recently toward those who uncover their heads, and the former headscarved women who responded somewhat further to this interest, also showed that their own action was subject to a very serious loss of meaning. Truly, why did women cover their heads in the past, why do they cover them now, and why do those who uncover do so? The aim is of course not to judge anyone. Just as the movement that has emerged precisely these days and turned into a serious movement, sharing experiences about the headscarf, said.

In response to the perception that uncovering has become mainstream, a social media site where those who cover share their own experiences and the meaning they attach to the headscarf has in a short time seen very serious participation. Perhaps a reaction to the attention uncovering has received, perhaps a reaction formed against new fashion perceptions of the headscarf, perhaps merely an expression of the need to restore the lost meaning of the headscarf, of reconciliation with the headscarf. Whatever it is, very beautiful, very interesting experiences. Well done to whoever pioneered this, but the movement has in a short time already acquired an anonymous identity.

The project, which set out on Instagram under the title "bastankonusalim" ("let's talk from the start") saying "We are here to share our experiences and feelings about the headscarf," has turned, especially with the caveat "not to judge, but to support one another," into a platform where a great many headscarved people share their experiences.

It is very important in terms of the headscarved people, about whom people have been speaking until now, themselves taking the floor and expressing themselves. And of course it is an extremely authentic, relaxed and self-confident voice against those who think that a 1440-year-old tradition of the ummah, whose foundation lies in the Quran and in God's command, would be shaken by the influence of everyday fashions and ideological crazes. Without commenting at all, let us leave you alone with what we have gathered from these experiences:

"All the stories are ours, big and small, advanced and behind, hard and easy. So let's talk from the start. Let's talk so that others do not speak on our behalf."

"The headscarf means I will do what is beautiful for God."

"This is my identity and my way of being."

"Our body is entrusted to us, and the only responsibility that falls on us regarding our body is to look after this trust, and in doing so I do not want to put myself in any situation that in any way keeps me from my tesettür."

"Not in spite of my headscarf, but thanks to my headscarf... as long as we know the right place to submit to and take root."

"My God, I am doing this only for You, and accept every time I struggle as proof of my love for You."

"Because I am covered, my surroundings take shape accordingly, and this shaped environment shapes me accordingly."

"Why do I love and admire tesettür so much? Because I deserve to be free. Because I choose to be safe and to protect myself. Because I choose that what was given to me remain private to me."

"My identity speaks before I speak."

"Tesettür has not been restrictive for me but defining."

"Everywhere I go, Muslims who share the same values with me can recognize me thanks to my tesettür, and this makes me very happy."

"The world is very uncertain and changeable. Despite all this ambiguity, tesettür is a stance. And even charismatic."

"Tesettür is a claim."