I saw a lovely photograph of one of my daughters on Instagram this week.
She was wearing a headscarf in a mosque in Istanbul on her honeymoon. We had a good laugh about it as it would certainly be a triggering event for her mother.
Myself and herself are going to Istanbul next week for a few days and the question of women having to wear a headscarf in certain locations has exercised my wife’s attention for some time.
She has a particularly dim view of the role that religion has played in our society and culture. And the idea of Muslim women being covered from head to foot or having to cover their heads is something that reminds her of the role of religion in our lives, especially in the lives of women.
My wife, therefore, has a particular interest in when and where she may need to wear a scarf next week.
I do not imbue the scarf wearing with the same significance and antipathy as my wife.
I see it as simply the culture. “People like us do things like this”.
In Istanbul, and elsewhere in the Muslim world, it is simply the culture.