What is it about the female’s hair that makes the male of the human species get so wild and crazy? Going by the Islamic culture this is one of the main reasons why girls are enjoined to cover their head. But its not just a phenomenon of Islamic societies alone. When the debate first erupted after France banned the burka in public places, I realized it was a belief more closer home than I ever realized.
In Himachal where I belong, women esp. married women are expected to cover their heads too. The idea is the same. Men should not see the hair. So women wear dhatus and it has now become an integral part of the traditional Himachali dress. But in the case of Himachal this tradition applies only to the rural areas. When Himachali women go to a big town like Shimla the dhatu comes off and they let their hair down literally.
The idea is the same in Rajasthan where the women wear the ghunghat in the presence of men. And I am sure there are many such parallers from different cultures around the world.
But regardless of the culture the central belief is the same. That men somehow get hot and bothered when they see a woman with uncovered head. I would really like to meet a guy who gets nasty ideas merely looking at a girl’s uncovered head. If such guys do exist then I think they have a fetish. Like there are guys with the foot fetish or hand fetish or toe fetish- well the list can go on.
So where did this idea come from? I guess like most things, it has its roots in history. In centuries past, women went about covered anyway- except in many parts of Pre-British India where it was perfectly normal for women to go about topless. The head was the only uncovered part of the body. So if an injunction had to be made it had to be about covering the head.
But this has rather bizarre consequences in the modern world. In Tanzania, Jordan and Malaysia, the three predominantly Islamic countries I had the opportunity to travel in, I saw girls in figure hugging jeans and low-cut sleeveless tops wearing a hijab. To assume that men get turned on by their hidden- hair and not by their figures, would not only be naïve but also a gross ignorance of male psychology. Wearing a hijab for these girls , I think, is more of a tradition, like it is for the dhatu donning girls in my hometown. But then where does this leave the ancient belief?