Thobe and Abaya Day
May. 7th, 2007 12:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
qatarperegrineLast Monday, a group of my friends wore our (or borrowed) thobes and abayas to work, and at lunchtime to the food court of the closest mall.
This was my first time wearing an abaya outside, and it was interesting to see people's reactions. I was a little worried that students would feel we were mocking their dress or treating it like a Halloween costume, but all the reactions I got were positive. One student even hugged me.
At the mall, my friends and I got stared at a lot: we could see people wondering what four obviously non-Arab women were doing in abaya. The stares were definitely not hostile, though, and I personally feel we got checked out a lot more than we do in Western dress.
Another interesting reaction occurred when Nikki and I were standing in line at Pizza Hut. A male, Muslim colleague passed by us, did a double take, said "Holy s***," and stopped to see what we were up to. He chatted for about ten seconds and then said he should move along before other people started wondering what he was doing talking to us. He's never said that when I've run into him while in Western dress....
I think wearing abaya was a different experience for each of us. Caryl wrote about her experience on her blog. Another friend reflected that she had always disliked abayas and thought of them as unglamorous, but after spending a day in a rather gorgeous one she now wants to buy one.
I found the experience fun but oddly unremarkable. Other people reacted to me very differently, but the abaya itself is unobtrusive enough that I didn't feel any different wearing it. (I did feel more aware of my clumsiness; I am not graceful enough to be an abaya girl.) The shayla, on the other hand, cannot be called unobtrusive. I think I spent about half my workday wrapping and rewrapping it.
This was my first time wearing an abaya outside, and it was interesting to see people's reactions. I was a little worried that students would feel we were mocking their dress or treating it like a Halloween costume, but all the reactions I got were positive. One student even hugged me.
At the mall, my friends and I got stared at a lot: we could see people wondering what four obviously non-Arab women were doing in abaya. The stares were definitely not hostile, though, and I personally feel we got checked out a lot more than we do in Western dress.
Another interesting reaction occurred when Nikki and I were standing in line at Pizza Hut. A male, Muslim colleague passed by us, did a double take, said "Holy s***," and stopped to see what we were up to. He chatted for about ten seconds and then said he should move along before other people started wondering what he was doing talking to us. He's never said that when I've run into him while in Western dress....
I think wearing abaya was a different experience for each of us. Caryl wrote about her experience on her blog. Another friend reflected that she had always disliked abayas and thought of them as unglamorous, but after spending a day in a rather gorgeous one she now wants to buy one.
I found the experience fun but oddly unremarkable. Other people reacted to me very differently, but the abaya itself is unobtrusive enough that I didn't feel any different wearing it. (I did feel more aware of my clumsiness; I am not graceful enough to be an abaya girl.) The shayla, on the other hand, cannot be called unobtrusive. I think I spent about half my workday wrapping and rewrapping it.
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| "Dawood" and his four wives -- at least, that's what a Qatari student said we look like. | Dawood and Rayyan demonstrate the typical nose-touch greeting of Qatari men. | |
 |  | |
| The boys, acting Qatari. | "Rayyan" and the Samrya chicas, acting decidedly un-Qatari. | |
 |  | |
| The gang tries to look dignified and Qatari. | The gang reverts to form. (For the record, this is Dave, Funke, Nikki, Lily, Caryl, me, and Ryan.) | |
 | ||
| Haram! We show some leg. |
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no subject
Date: 2007-05-07 10:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-09 12:00 pm (UTC)I'll bring my abaya home if it fits in my luggage. ^^ We should have a thobe and abaya day in Pittsburgh... I think Leland has one...
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Date: 2007-05-07 11:20 pm (UTC)Digital Nomad
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Date: 2007-05-09 12:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-08 05:36 pm (UTC)Check out the abayaed hotness that is you! Woo!
no subject
Date: 2007-05-09 12:02 pm (UTC)Although "abayaed hotness" is still a rather amusing phrase to me!
no subject
Regarding the shayla, if it's any consolation, head-scarves and such (not quite as extensive as the shayla), commonly worn by many religious women here, DO need periodic adjusting. The actual amount of adjusting is dependent on many factors such as: the wearer's experience (i.e. newlywed brides adjust more), the shape of the her head, type of hair, how strongly her hair reacts to changes in humidity, and of course - how self-conscious one is wearing it.
I wonder how the average Muslim/Qatari who knows you, felt about this whole thing. While typical Jewish appearance is hardly as distinctive as Muslim dress (my wardrobe contains a single type of item, you'd not find at home), there ARE some sub-groups (such as the Hassidim), which do have very distinctive dress. So while non-religious and/or non-Jewish do make accommodations at times, for Orthodox standards of modesty (say on entering holy places, many of which have longer wrap-around skirts for women), this is hardly ever accomplished by adopting those specific distinctive dress-codes. So had I met someone I know to not belong to those groups, dressed as such, my response would most likely be something like "Oh, how cute" (with a possible tinge of annoyance), as it would come across more as a game, than anything else. As you often do, you've given me an interesting topic to ponder on. Hmmm... Thanks!
no subject
Date: 2007-05-09 12:09 pm (UTC)Yes, I agree.
Also, if we were actually Qatari, then being seen talking to a strange man would be bad for our honor. Therefore he, in turn, would be seen as suspect for talking to a [faux-]Qatari woman.
"Regarding the shayla, if it's any consolation, head-scarves and such (not quite as extensive as the shayla), commonly worn by many religious women here, DO need periodic adjusting."
Oh, same here. Our students readjust all the time, but they do so efficiently and unthinkingly. I, on the other hand, had to race to the bathroom and spend five minutes fighting with the shayla every time it started to slip.
"I wonder how the average Muslim/Qatari who knows you, felt about this whole thing."
As I said, the reactions were much warmer than I expected. I think it's somewhat different as Islam is a more proselytizing faith than Judaism. The Hassidim don't really WANT others to act like they're Hassidim, whereas the Muslims I interact with do seem happy to have non-Muslims act more Muslim. I agree with the "How cute" thing though. I definitely wouldn't want to adopt the abaya in the long term for that reason (and many others, of course).
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