Hijab No More: A Phenomenological Study.

The consumption of Islamic products has been discussed quite extensively in many studies, yet the opposite case which is the dissociation from Islamic products is rarely discussed. This study aims to investigate the phenomena in which Muslim women who were raised with conservative values at home countries choose to dissociate from hijab when they live in the western countries. Moreover, they become activists who discourage other Muslim women from wearing hijab. This study adopts a phenomenological research design. The results suggest that hijab dissociation is a form of compensatory mechanism aimed at minimizing self-discrepancy, restoring self-esteem, gaining personal control, reducing perceived alienation and coping with psychological trauma. This study contributes to the theoretical gap in compensatory consumption literature by linking the theory with the non-consumption of religious products.

Readiness to accept Western standard of beauty and body satisfaction among Muslim girls with and without hijab.

The purpose of this paper was to determine whether there is a difference in the readiness to accept Western standards of beauty in which thinness is an ideal of beauty and attractiveness, as well in body and appearance satisfaction between Muslim adolescent girls attending madrassa and dressing in accordance with tradition, that is to say wearing hijab, and Muslim adolescent girls who do not wear hijab and who follow contemporary Western-influenced fashion trends. Both of these groups were also compared to a non-Muslim group of adolescent girls. The sample consisted of 75 Muslim adolescent girls with hijab, 75 Muslim adolescent girls without hijab and 75 Orthodox adolescent girls. The following instruments were used: the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), the Sociocultural Attitudes towards Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ-3) and the Contour Drawing Rating Scale (CDRS). The highest level of body satisfaction (despite this group having the highest body weight in the sample) was evident among Muslim adolescent girls attending madrassa and wearing hijab. They also showed significantly less pressure to attain the Western thin-ideal standards of beauty than adolescent girls who accept Western way of dressing. Research results indicate a significant role of socio-cultural factors in one's attitude towards the body image, but also opens the question of the role of religion as a protective factor when it comes to the body and appearance attitude among Muslim women who wear hijab.

Head Scarf Pin in the Airway and Challenges in Rigid Bronchoscopy: A Case Series.

Accidental Foreign body aspiration, especially sharp metallic objects may lead to life threatening complications. A metallic object is identified readily on a Xray chest or CT chest and helps us in ascertaining its location. A straight pin with blunt head in the shape of pearl is used in wearing a head scarf also known as hijab to hold it in place. The head scarf pin (hijab pin) if accidentally aspirated into the airway may lead to grave complications. Hence timely intervention with suitable instrumentation is essential to prevent any lethal complications. We have reported four different cases of adolescent females who had accidentally aspirated hijab pin and challenges faced by us during removal.

Evaluation of Scalp Hydration and pH Values in Hijab-Wearing and Non-Hijab-Wearing Women.

Introduction: Indonesia is the most populous Muslim-majority country, where some women wear hijab covering their scalp and neck. Some hijab-wearing women complain of scalp problems eg, itch, dandruff, and hair loss, which might be related to severe and chronic skin barrier impairment due to occlusion. Excessive water accumulation in the occluded stratum corneum might result in increased permeability, followed by increased skin pH values. This study aimed to evaluate scalp hydration and pH values in hijab-wearing and non-hijab-wearing women. Material and Methods: This was a cross-sectional comparative analytical study using stratified random sampling methods conducted on 63 subjects, who were divided into two groups, consisting of 33 hijab-wearing and 30 non-hijab-wearing women. Both groups underwent physical examination and their medical history recorded. Scalp hydration was measured using a Corneometer (Courage + Khazaka, Koln, Germany), and scalp pH value was measured using a Skin & Scalp pH Tester (Hanna Instruments® HI981037, Rumania). This study was conducted at the Dermatology and Venereology Clinic of Hasan Sadikin General Hospital Bandung. Results: The mean scalp hydration and pH values were 18.34 ± 2.91 AU and 4.93 ± 0.17, respectively, in hijab-wearing women. Meanwhile, the mean scalp hydration and pH values were 17.71 ± 3.35 AU and 4.91 ± 0.16, respectively, in non-hijab-wearing women. The difference of scalp hydration and pH values between the groups was not statistically significant based on the independent t-test, with p-values of 0.430 and 0.597, respectively. Conclusion: Scalp hydration and pH values in hijab-wearing and non-hijab-wearing women did not differ significantly. Hijab-wearing women should not worry about scalp barrier impairment as long as they do not have any history of underlying scalp and skin disorders, and do not wear hijab in wet condition.

The Good, the Bad and the Hijab: A Study of Implicit Associations Made by Practicing Muslims in Their Native Muslim Country.

Recent research indicates that wearing the hijab reduces the attractiveness of female faces perceived by practicing Muslim men and women in their native Muslim country (the United Arab Emirates). The purpose of the current research was to develop this finding to investigate whether other aspects of person perception are also affected when women wear the hijab in this Muslim country. Of particular relevance is that changes in physical attractiveness often affect the personal qualities assigned to individuals. Accordingly, we sought to determine whether such effects occur when the physical attractiveness of women is altered by wearing the hijab. To do this, we used an Implicit Association Test (IAT) to investigate how native Muslim participants in the UAE associated pleasant and unpleasant connotations with images of women either wearing the hijab or with their heads uncovered. As in previous research with native Muslim participants, female faces were again perceived as significantly less attractive when the hijab was worn. However, the accompanying IAT findings showed that these less attractive hijab-wearing images were associated more with pleasant connotations than were the matched uncovered images. These findings provide fresh insight into the effects of the hijab on perceptions of Muslim women in a Muslim country and provide support for the view that cultural clothing can influence person perception beyond physical attractiveness alone.

Using Narrative Inquiry to Understand Anti-Muslim Racism in Canadian Nursing.

BACKGROUND: Islamophobia or, anti-Muslim racism, and more specifically, gendered islamophobia targeting Muslim women who wear a hijab is rising globally and is aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, anti-Muslim racism is not well understood in Canadian nursing. PURPOSE: This study utilized narrative inquiry to understand anti-Muslim racism through the experiences of nurses who wear a hijab with the goal of putting forward their counter-narrative that disrupts anti-Muslim racism in Canadian nursing. METHODS: Narrative inquiry informed by Critical Race Feminism, care ethics, and intersectionality were used to analyze the factors shaping anti-Muslim racism and composite narratives were used to present the results. RESULTS: The three composite narratives are: 'This is Who I Am: A Muslim Nurse with a Hijab and an Accent'; 'I Know What is at Play: Unveiling Operating Power Structures and Power Relations'; and 'Rewriting the Narrative: Navigating Power Structures and Power Relations'. These composite narratives constituted the nurses' counter-narrative. They revealed intersections of gendered, racial divisions of labour and religious narratives that shape anti-Muslim racism, as operating power relations in nursing, and how Muslim nurses reclaimed control to resist their racialized stereotypes. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that anti-Muslim racism in nursing operates through multiple intersecting power relations. Using stories can mobilize transformational change so that anti-racist practices, policies, and pedagogy can be embraced.

The legal and institutional framework for the protection of religious rights in Nigeria and the right to wear Hijab in public institutions.

Background: Religion and its exercise are among the most sensitive discourses in different parts of the world, especially in Nigeria. The constitution and other laws ensure citizens are afforded basic human rights of which religious rights are included and yet regulated. There are questions of interpretation as to the extent to which such rights can be enjoyed and the efficacy of both the legal and institutional frameworks protecting religious rights in Nigeria. Methods: This article utilises a doctrinal legal research approach utilising existing literature, statutes, and laws enacted towards the protection of religious rights in Nigeria with the consideration of primary and secondary sources of statutes including the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), judicial precedents, International Conventions, law textbooks, and peer-reviewed journals. A comparative analysis of Nigeria, Tunisia, Algeria, Turkey and Kazakhstan was done to gain perspectives on balancing conflicting interests in light of Nigeria's heterogeneous status. As part of the contribution to knowledge, a hybrid model for mitigating the socio-legal effect of the usage of hijab in Nigeria's public institutions is presented to further enrich Nigeria's jurisprudence. A hybrid model is an approach that combines different sources or methodologies by integrating two or more distinct frameworks to leverage their strengths and effectively address specific needs or challenges. It is utilized to achieve synergy and maximize outcomes by blending diverse legal approaches in law. Results: Nigeria, being a multi-ethnic and multi-religious state, demonstrates that the government must protect the public interests as it relates to religious rights regardless of faith or religion. The study reveals that the current legal approach without further legislative intervention on religious issues will be inadequate to address the problem. Therefore, this study presents a hybrid model for mitigating the socio-legal effect of the usage of hijab in Nigeria's public institutions to avoid harm and further enrich Nigeria's jurisprudence. Conclusions: This study concludes by emphasizing the inadequacy of Nigeria's legal and institutional frameworks regarding the protection of religious rights and the right to wear hijab in public institutions. Consequently, reform is deemed necessary.

The development of non-scarring alopecia in women who wear the hijab.

Little is known about hair loss associated with wearing the hijab, a religious head covering worn by Muslim women. We performed a single-center analysis to investigate the association between various forms of non-scarring alopecia and wearing the hijab. This study included 125 patients who wore the hijab and 40 race/ethnicity-matched women who did not wear the hijab. Among the 165 total patients diagnosed between January 2015 and March 2022, 71 had telogen effluvium, 78 had female pattern hair loss, and 16 had traction alopecia. We found patients who wore the hijab had a younger mean age of alopecia onset than patients who did not wear the hijab (31.5 vs. 37.3 years; P = 0.02). Our study suggests that vitamin D deficiency (OR 4.1; 95% CI 1.2-14.1; P = 0.02) and seborrheic dermatitis (OR 2.9; 95% CI 1.1-8.1; P = 0.03) may significantly impact the development of telogen effluvium in patients who wear the hijab. Targeting these risk factors among patients who wear the hijab may be considered to prevent hair loss.

Hijab Pornography: A Content Analysis of Internet Pornographic Videos.

A content analysis was conducted to explore sexual indicators of aggression, objectification, exploitation, and agency in 50 "hijab" pornographic videos. Our findings suggest that women were the target of aggressive acts in all videos, with gagging (42%) and spanking (38%) being the most common. Also, in comparison with men, women were more likely to be objectified and exploited, and less likely to possess agency. Limitations of the current study and directions for future research are detailed.

Emotion perception bias associated with the hijab in Austrian and Turkish participants.

In a cross-cultural study, we investigated the link between explicit attitudes towards the hijab and implicit measures of cultural and religious bias during the recognition of emotions. Participants tested in Austria (N = 71) and in Turkey (N = 70) reported their attitude towards the hijab, and categorised in a mousetracker task happy and sad faces of women, shown with five levels of intensity, and framed either by a hijab or by an oval-shaped mask. The two samples did not differ in their explicit attitudes towards the hijab. However, negative attitude towards the hijab predicted greater sadness attribution to happy faces with the hijab in Austrian participants. Unrelated to their explicit attitudes, Turkish participants attributed more sadness to happy faces with than without the hijab. Results suggest that the sight of the hijab activated, in both Austrian and Turkish participants, implicit biases resulting in associations with sadness and negative emotions.

Perceptions of persons who wear face coverings are modulated by the perceivers' attitude.

We examined if the effect of facial coverings on person perception is influenced by the perceiver's attitudes. We used two online experiments in which participants saw the same human target persons repeatedly appearing with and without a specific piece of clothing and had to judge the target persons' character. In Experiment 1 (N = 101), we investigated how the wearing of a facial mask influences a person's perception depending on the perceiver's attitude toward measures against the COVID-19 pandemic. In Experiment 2 (N = 114), we examined the effect of wearing a head cover associated with Arabic culture on a person's perception depending on the perceiver's attitude toward Islam. Both studies were preregistered; both found evidence that a person's perception is a process shaped by the personal attitudes of the perceiver as well as merely the target person's outward appearance. Integrating previous findings, we demonstrate that facial covers, as well as head covers, operate as cues which are used by the perceivers to infer the target persons' underlying attitudes. The judgment of the target person is shaped by the perceived attitude toward what the facial covering stereotypically symbolizes.

Hijab or Niqab Interacts with Facemasks Usage at Healthcare Settings in Kabul, Afghanistan: A Multi-Center Observational Study.

Purpose: We aimed to understand the extent of facemask usage resulting from the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in an Afghan context. In Afghanistan, new COVID-19 variants, low vaccination rates, political turmoil, and poverty interact not only with the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic but also with facemask usage. Methods: We collected data (n = 1970) by visually observing the usage and type of facemasks used among visitors entering healthcare facilities in Kabul. We conducted an observational study observing the use of facemasks among 1279 men and 691 women. Results: While 71% of all participants adhered to wearing facemasks, 94% of these users wore surgical masks, and 86% wore all types of facemasks correctly. Interestingly, women adhered to wearing facemasks more than men. Specifically, of all the participants who were not wearing masks, 20% were men, and only 8% were women. Even though men were more in number in our study (64.9%), women have a higher adherence rate to wearing facemasks than men. Conclusions: We conclude that gender socialization and expectations of women to wear the niqab or hijab interact with their adherence to wearing facemasks. Additionally, since Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world, which has witnessed a considerable period of political turmoil, we spotlight that our findings are rare in scholarship as they represent a distinct non-Western Islamic society with a low scale of COVID-19 vaccination. Therefore, more research is needed to assess the general population's socioeconomic and geopolitical barriers to facemask use, given that Afghanistan is an underrepresented social context. Our findings are expected to aid health policymakers in developing novel prevention strategies for the country.

When the Hijab causes death in workplace : A case series.

In eastern countries, Muslim females wear the Hijab, all the time, conforming to a moral standard of modesty and privacy. Worn in workplaces, the Hijab can causes accidents leading to death. In this context, we report three fatal work accidents related to the Hijab. In two cases, death occurred instantaneously. In all cases, death was attributed to mechanical asphyxiation.

Scarf pin inhalation; presentation and management; a case series.

BACKGROUND: Pin inhalation is an accidental entry of a pin into the respiratory passages. This study aims to shed the light on pin inhalation as a hazard and show the magnitude of such preventable thoracic problem and determine the safest method of management. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This is a retrospective single center case series, conducted during 18 month period from January 2016 to April 2017, All patients with pin inhalation had been collected and analyzed according to the age, gender, time between aspiration to presentation and symptoms and signs, number of attempts, bronchoscopic or open removal of the pins with complications. RESULTS: The total number of patients in this study was 162. The mean age was 11years. Pin inhalation accident was more common in patients less than 10 years in males and less than 20 years in females. The most common gender was female (73%). The most common presenting symptom was cough (54%). The left tracheobronchial tree was the most common site for pin lodgment 107 (67.3%) followed by the right side 23 (14.4%). The majority of the pins were extracted in one piece (94%). Thoracotomy was done in one patient, no death reported. CONCLUSION: Sharp pin inhalation is a serious hazard and can have lethal outcome. History is the major parameter to start the diagnosis of pin inhalation and radiography is the gold standard to confirm the diagnosis.

Post-traumatic embitterment symptoms among woman victims of February 28th post-modern coup of Turkey after two decades: A comparative cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Post-traumatic embitterment disorder (PTED) is characterized by embitterment reaction to stressful life events, which are seen as unjust and as a violation of basic beliefs. On 28 February 1997, a so-called post-modern coup took place in Turkey, declaring a ban on hijab which had a significant impact on women's lives by eliminating them from public sphere if they were to wear hijab. AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the frequency of PTED symptoms among woman victims of the coup after two decades, and to investigate its correlations. Embitterment reaction was also examined in woman victims of 1999 earthquakes of Turkey, and the findings were compared. METHOD: We used PTED, Beck Anxiety Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory and Brief Resilience Scale, and a purpose-designed socio-demographic form. RESULTS: Out of eligible 101 hijab ban victims responded, substantial proportion of them (48%) were suffering from chronic embitterment as well as experiencing symptoms of anxiety (37.6%) and depression (26.8%) of moderate-to-severe intensity. There was no difference in the levels of anxiety, depression and resilience between the victims of the coup and earthquake (N = 20), but hijab ban victims were significantly more likely to present with PTED symptoms (p < .05). Women who had family support were more resilient with less likelihood of PTED (p < .05). CONCLUSION: This study provides some important insights into psychopathology of PTED as well as suggesting that it is more likely to manifest in people whose suffering is brought upon by fellow human beings.

Vitamin D Metabolic Profiles in Premenopausal Women Wearing Niqab and Hijab in Sunny Basrah.

Background Conservative clothing like niqab and hijab may affect the wearer's vitamin D metabolic parameters even in predominantly sunny areas of the world (i.e., areas with adequate sunlight exposure throughout the year). Our objective was to evaluate the effect of wearing the niqab or hijab on different vitamin D3 metabolic parameters in a sample of premenopausal women from Basrah. Methodology This was a cross-sectional observational study on premenopausal women who wore a niqab (n = 64), with a comparable age-matched group of women who wore the hijab (n = 60). Biochemical evaluation of the vitamin D3 metabolic profile involved 25-hydroxycholecalciferol (25-OH)-vitamin D, corrected serum calcium, parathyroid hormone (PTH), phosphorus, and alkaline phosphatase estimation. Statistical comparison of these parameters was made using the independent sample t-test and Mann-Whitney-U test. Results The two groups of women were age- and weight-matched, with a median age of 39 and median body mass index (BMI) of 31.8 kg/m2. Overall, age, marital status, and BMI of women in both groups had no significant relationship with the vitamin D3 metabolic parameters (low 25-OH-vitamin D, low corrected calcium, and high PTH). The subgroup analysis for women wearing the niqab showed the same results. Conclusions Wearing niqab or hijab in premenopausal women was not associated with any significant statistical relationship or difference in vitamin D3 metabolic parameters. Conservative dress styles like niqab and hijab are practical barriers to sun exposure and contribute to suboptimal vitamin D levels, affecting subsequent metabolic pathways. Healthcare professionals should advise women who wear niqab or hijab to increase their vitamin D3 levels through culturally appropriate alternative mechanisms.

Aspiration of hijab pin is sharply rising among young women---A preventable health problem.

INTRODUCTION: Foreign body aspiration is a common life threatening emergency but largely a preventable problem. There is an increase in the number of headscarf pin aspiration cases among young girls as a result of increase in the number of veiling population. With the number of hijab wearing population increasing all over the world, attention must be brought to the risk associated with holding the hijab pins in the mouth. AIM: To study the practice of holding hijab pin in the mouth among Muslim women. METHODS: In a first study of its kind, we interviewed 270 Muslim women with varied background to study the practice of hijab pin use and holding it in the mouth. RESULTS: Among 270 Muslim women, 260 (96.3%) of them wear hijab. 221 (81.85%) women use hijab pins to hold different layers of hijab. 191 (70.74%) of them hold the hijab pins in between the lips when they adjust the layers of hijab. 72 (26.67%) women had occasions when the hijab pin slipped into their mouth and 10 (3.70%) of them have aspirated the hijab pin accidentally. Maximum hijab pin use is in the age group between 21 and 40 years (89.44%) and least in the elderly (6.66%). Occasions when the pin slipped into the mouth or aspirations both are maximum in the below 20 years group. Both are nil in elderly. CONCLUSION: Appropriate education and intervention need to be planned as more young population are getting involved. Most importantly refrain from holding the pin in the mouth!