Women of countless faiths and cultures cover their hair for religious reasons. While contemporary society has often tried to assign specific meaning or intention to this act of devotion, these women are rarely asked what significance their head coverings hold for them and why they choose to observe religious laws of modesty. Graduate student and photographer Michele Silver seeks to change this, through her master’s thesis and photojournalism project, “Women and Hair Covering.”
An exhibit of Silver’s work, currently on display at the Rubin-Frankel Gallery at Boston University Hillel, presents 30 photographs of Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Mennonite and Christian women who cover their hair. Slightly more than half the women pictured are Jewish, of various religious strains, reflecting Silver’s initial interest in her own community’s requirement of hair covering. This interest ultimately led her to question why numerous religions around the globe require a similar observance. “Why is hair such a big deal?” Silver asked.
The women, who are pictured primarily alone or in small groups, are captured in their homes, backyards and places of work, and in times of worship. The mundane and private nature of the locations and events convey the beauty, modesty and intimacy of each woman’s decision to cover her hair. Accordingly, the images are displayed with small placards including only the woman’s religion and location, and a brief description of what she is doing.
Silver explains that hair covering for these women is “an expression of their feelings and spirituality.
“There were different reasons why different religions cover their hair, but the feeling of faith, the feeling of modesty, the feeling of belief and of a commitment to God was universal amongst the women,” she said. “It’s not extremism, it’s not fundamentalism. This is their personal expression.”
The Rubin-Frankel Gallery at the Florence and Chafetz Hillel House at Boston University, 213 Bay State Road, Boston; through March 13, Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sat., 8:30 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m.-9 p.m.; free. (617-353-7634, www.bu.edu/hillel/gallery)
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Most people have it backwards. They wear skirts and do not cover hair. It is easier to wear a skirt then cover your hair with a hat daily. I think for people that have not had this as a part of there experience growing up(parents,grandparents who covered hair) it is much harder to cover your hair. It is something that is very opposite to "American" norms. According to Halachik sources in the talmud one has to cover ones hair but how you cover it is also a matter of interpretation. Some say you must cover all your hair others say a teichel,cap/hat is fine(you can even have your own bangs out and your hair out) others say only a beautiful wig that looks better then your own hair and yet others say a short wig, others only a cap on top of a short ugly wig. If it is so confusing even to us how more so to the outsider. It also becomes even more confusing when you see cultures who have women who cover there hair and they are very sexist cultures and so people assume any hair covering is sexist. The torah is forever but it's laws and interpretation of laws are constantly changing but yet in a way that always and formost preserves orthodox life. 500 yrs. ago men had many wives but then "dina malchuta dina" and things changed. We live in a country and the laws of that land become our laws and yet we do not want to lose who we are as a culture and religion. This is a hard line to walk and challenging because there is so much peer pressure. One has to be strong in there beliefs and convictions. There are people that do not want to associate with you because they feel you are too religious and therefore you will judge them negatively. There are people that feel you are not religious enough and you will influence them negatively. It becomes very complex, this "in group out group" phenomina. The most important thing is not to judge anyone and be yourself no matter what & preservation is key to the continuity of our nation. My belief on hair covering and it has evolved over time is that in this day and age it's time for a new law with most people spending $4000 to buy one (and they have to have several)long gorgeous wigs that looks better then there own hair, in this case you are not more modest nor are you making a statment that you are married in the community (bec. it looks like your own hair). Women are so into "looking good" today (that it is in my Clinical opinion Psychologically speaking damaging to ask them to cover something that is no longer considered "ervah"=so seductive and sensual- I mean you see long gorgeous hair everytime you walk down the street)instead of looking healthy- look at all the eating disorders and there is shabbos makeup and everyone is influences by the fashion world etc. myself included but I am very artistic in general. With regard to pants I feel very similarly, it is more tsniyus to wear pants many times then skirts(skiing, iceskating, horseback riding etc) and it is no longer "beged ish" and many skirts that people wear are much more untsniyusdic then pants. Orthodox jews have habituated (when you get so used to seeing it around it doesn't do anything for you anymore)to pants and so they should no longer be considered "untsnius." The truth is there are three things that make one orthodox: kashrut, shabbat and taharat hamishpach and it is most important not to judge people. People assume incorrectly that if you do not cover your hair and wear pants, you are not shomer shabbat and mitzvot. www.newagecbt.com
P.S.According to halachik sources hair covering is more an issue then wearing modest pants.According to the talmud you have to cover your hair- you can have bangs out and hair out but need to wear hat. With regards to pants it is less of an issue chalachikly.
Sure, some women may describe their practice in ways that the author describes as containing "beauty." But that disingenuous reading is akin to Plato's Happy Slave, finding inner peace amid external oppression. Put differently, if you're told this is the way things must be, you try and find the positive side. But that doesn't change the fact that the situation is not a good one for women. The laws "requiring" women to cover their hair are sexist, patriarchal, and rooted in a vision of women as sex objects, hair and all. It is physically restricting, causes many women pain, headaches and forms of discomfort (hence the wigs -- so as to be able to be "obedient" to the rules while not feeling the embarrassment of the hat).
The important question to ask is, if the women were told that they did not HAVE to cover their hair, if they were given complete freedom about body, what would they choose? How many would still be calling it "beautiful"? I imagine most women would run the other way, wild hair and all. Elana www.forseriousjewishwomen.com
I appeciate God's gift in your life and at the same time the issue of head covering has been a very controversial matter in our churches this day. but the fact remain the same that is, if Apostle paul injuction is part of God's word to men then, we must accept it. our attempt not to obey any portion of the Bible simply mean we disbelieve God's word; is just as simple as that. no human philosophy will change that nor tradition or civilization. thanks