Purdah

Pardah or purdah (from Hindi-Urdu پردہ, पर्दा, meaning "curtain") is a religious and social practice of gender partition prevalent among some Muslim and Hindu communities.

The term purdah is also used in English as a metaphor to describe practices such as the pre-election period of sensitivity occurring in the weeks leading up to a general election or referendum.

[6] Practices that restricted women's mobility and behavior existed among religious groups in India since ancient times and intensified with the arrival of Islam.

[15] Historians believe purdah was acquired by the Muslims during the expansion of the Arab Empire into modern-day Iraq in the 7th century C.E and that Islam merely added religious significance to already existing local practices of the times.

Purdah takes on different forms and significance depending on the region, time, socioeconomic status, and local culture.

Naim describes the evolution of purdah during the first third of the 20th century among the sharif or genteel people of Avadh, United Provinces, British India:[28] The word ‘Hijab' is relatively new for me.

And I learned the word and its many meanings in the observed practice of the various female members of my middle-class family in Bara Banki, a small town in north India.

Hers was a two piece ‘modern' outfit, as opposed to the one-piece – derisively called ‘the shuttlecock' by my sisters – that was preferred by the older or more conservatively spirited in the family.

The top had a separate veil hanging over the face, which Apa could throw back in the company of women, e.g. while traveling in the ladies compartment on a train, or hold partly aside to look at things more closely when she went shopping.

I should not neglect to mention that in those days – I’m talking about the Forties – it was considered improper even for Hindu ladies of certain classes to be seen in public with their hair and faces uncovered, particularly the married women.

Studies have shown that in conservative rural Bangladeshi communities, adherence to purdah is positively correlated with the risk of domestic violence.

[31] The restriction on women's mobility limits their ability to access health care and family planning services, especially for unmarried girls.

[17] However, due to economic needs and shifts in gender relations, some women are compelled to break purdah to gain income.

[17] Across countries, women from lower socioeconomic backgrounds tend to observe purdah less because they face greater financial pressures to work and gain income.

[17] Studies show that "it is the poorest, most desperate families that, given the opportunity, are more willing to stress purdah norms and take the social risks entailed when women engage in wage or self-employment.

However, other studies found that purdah still plays a significant role in women's decisions to participate in the workforce, often prohibiting them from taking opportunities they would otherwise.

[36] The degree to which women observe purdah and the pressures they face to conform or to earn income vary with their socioeconomic class.

Social and mobility restrictions under purdah severely limit women's involvement in political decision-making in government institutions and in the judiciary.

[17] In Tunisia and formerly Turkey, religious veiling is banned in public schools, universities, and government buildings as a measure to discourage displays of political Islam or fundamentalism.

For instance, women in Pakistan have organized trade unions and attempt to exercise their right to vote and influence decision making.

For instance, Begum Rokeya and Faizunnesa Choudhurani played a significant role in emancipating Bengali Muslim women from purdah.

[23] For the Muslim South Asian diaspora living in secular non-Muslim communities such as Pakistani-Americans, attitudes about purdah have changed to be less strict.

[43] As it pertains to education and economic opportunities, these immigrant families hold less conservative views about purdah after moving to America; for the daughters who do choose to wear the veil, they usually do so out of their own volition as a connection to their Islamic roots and culture.

[43][44] Purdah has repeatedly been criticized as oppression of women by limiting female autonomy, freedom of movement, and access to resources such as education, employment, and political participation.

[45] Some scholars such as P. Singh and Roy interpret purdah as a form of male domination in the public sphere, and an "eclipse of Muslim woman's identity and individuality".

[46] According to scholars such as Elizabeth White, "purdah is an accommodation to and a means of perpetuating the perceived differences between the sexes: the male being self-reliant and aggressive, the female weak, irresponsible, and in need of protection".

[48] "Secluded Women" is criticism of Purdah system by first Muslim feminist and social reformer Bengali writer Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1880–1932).

It depicts a feminist utopia (called Ladyland) in which women run everything and men are secluded, in a mirror-image of the traditional practice of purdah.