Starred review from July 14, 2014
While there is no direct requirement to veil in any Islamic religious texts, many Muslim women choose to do so and in a variety of ways that have nuanced meanings, which Amer, a University of Sydney professor of Arabic and Islamic studies, catalogues and explores, offering perhaps the definitive glossary on veiling. She spares no one in her analysis, asserting that Western politicians exploit the veil rather than focus on real problems. At the same time, Amer exposes, in a critique sure to rankle Muslims, the social pressure to wear hijab (a common term for nonfacial veiling) among Muslim student groups, causing social isolation from non-Muslims but inviting solidarity from other Muslim students. Muslim women, in general, face this double-edged sword, where acceptance in one community probably means rejection, even bullying, in the other. Amer’s deliberate and caring scholarly treatment is pitch-perfect. This book about “hijabistas,” “muhajababes,” and veiled Muslim hip-hop artists, among others, is really not just about veiling; it is the story of Islam, especially modern Islam, told through the prism of the veil.