Hijab

The Star's Antonia Zerbisias touches on the usual comments from the usual quarters about the hijabs worn by the family members of the accused terrorists (You have to scroll down a bit - the post I linked to deals with several topics).

It occurs to me that the relatives of the accused may be choosing to wear a more extreme form of hijab for privacy or disguise purposes, specifically because they are surrounded by the media.

I have noticed that their headwear seems a little more haphazardly put together than the hijab I usually see on people walking down the street and riding the subway. Most hijab that I see in real life gives the impression that it's a single, one-piece garment that somehow magically drapes itself where the wearer wants it to, without the help of pins or clips or knots. Upon closer inspection, you do sometimes see the occasional pin or a hint that it's really two pieces, but to the casual observer it just looks like a single, particularly obedient, piece of cloth.

Even from newspaper photographs, I can see that the relatives of the accused are wearing two or three sometimes-mismatched pieces of cloth around their head and face. I can see where they are pinned in some cases, and some pieces appear to be inexpertly tied on, as though the wearer is not used to wearing her scarves that way. I have never seen such haphazard hijab in real life.

Understand, I do not know any of these people personally and do not frequent the neighbourhoods where the accused are reported to have lived or where the trial is taking place. Perhaps they do dress this way all the time, I have no way of knowing. However, if I were in their position, with a loved one unexpectedly arrested for egregious crimes and the world's media following my every move, and if I had the equipment and the knowledge to whip up a makeshift burqa or abaya, I would totally do so. That way, when I am inevitably photographed, my facial expressions, facial feature, physique, wardrobe, and skill with cosmetics would not be subject to public scrutiny. I wouldn't have to worry about someone googling my name at a later date and finding criticism of my acne or lank hair or armpit stains. (Even if the mainstream media wouldn't make these kind of judgements, the average Fark reader certainly would). Also, once the media is no longer hounding my every move, I could go back to dressing normally, and random passers-by and casual acquaintances and the people at the deli and future co-workers and classmates would have no idea that I was associated with that sordid ordeal, all at the minor cost of making some non-standard wardrobe choices that, worst case, will cause critics to sneer "Well, what do you expect?"

I'm rather surprised that more people haven't advanced this theory - I've discussed it with a number of people in real life, and the vast majority of them came up with the same theory independently.