Concealing to reveal

The informational role of Islamic dress

Bibliographic Data

ID5722366
AuthorsDavid Siddhartha Patel (Cornell University, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume24
Issue3
Pages295-323
Publication date2012-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueRationality and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1043-4631 • E-ISSN: 1461-7358
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1043463112440683
OpenAlexW2319689168
LanguageEN
Citations received24
References cited19

After the resurgence of headscarves throughout the Muslim world, some women adopted 'more fundamentalist' clothing styles, such as full-face veils, or began pietistic social movements. What explains this escalation and increasing diversity of Islamic dress and behavior? This paper analyzes how the spread of headscarves and Islamic dress since the 1970s undermined it as a signal of piety, which is a valuable yet hidden characteristic in many social interactions. As less pious women adopted the headscarf for myriad reasons, pious women adopted increasingly conservative dress and behavior to credibly signal their piety to uninformed observers and improve their marriage prospects. The spread of 'fundamentalist' behaviors does not necessarily imply a societal shift in piety, ideology, or support for political Islamists

Clothing · Diversity (politics) · Face (sociological concept) · Filial piety · Ideology · Islam · Piety · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · Gender Studies · History · Islamic Studies and History · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology · Turkey's Politics and Society

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