Katja Kuokkanen : Helsinki Journalist Niqab Experiment. The sight of a woman in an entirely black garment with a veil covering the face certainly grabbed people’s attention in Helsinki’s Itäkeskus shopping mall on Wednesday of last week.
While testing a niqab, a conservative face covering worn by some Muslim women, a Helsingin Sanomat journalist managed to frighten some people at the mall.
In the car park, a group of men of foreign background split into two, while one man was staring at her so intensely that his gaze nearly burned a hole in her chiffon.
The journalist wrote about her experiences in Helsingin Sanomat.
The black chiffon covering my eyes makes me stumble against a male customer’s shoulder at an ethnic shop. The man gesticulates apologetically - in the usual slightly absent manner.
Then he really sees me: a woman dressed in a black abaya-niqab, a decorative black cloak and a veil that also covers my face.
The man nearly bows and renews the apology in an Arabic dialect.
I have never been regarded with such great respect before.
Then he really sees me: a woman dressed in a black abaya-niqab, a decorative black cloak and a veil that also covers my face.
The man nearly bows and renews the apology in an Arabic dialect.
I have never been regarded with such great respect before.
After having donned the traditional form of Islamic dress, the abaya, at one of the ethnic shops on Helsinki’s Hämeentie, I head for the Hakaniemi Metro station.
The purpose of this experiment is to try to understand what wearing an abaya-niqab feels like, and also how other people react to the clothing some Muslim women wear.
It feels natural to go to Helsinki’s eastern shopping centre, Itäkeskus, as women wearing traditional Islamic dress are often seen travelling east on the Metro.
When I am riding in the orange Metro car, the first reaction comes immediately.
”Hey, that is one hell of a sight”, a drunken man yells out to his three equally wasted friends in the crowded carriage.
Other passengers skillfully avoid looking at my veiled face.
”Hey, you left this”, says a middle-aged woman. My hair was tied in a shiny doughnut under the veil, but it dropped on the seat behind me.
I cannot say thank you to the woman as I cannot decide whether I could speak Finnish and blow my cover.
When the shop assistant, a young Somali girl, earlier draped the scarf on my head, she said that very few Muslim women in Helsinki wear the kind of outfit I had just put on.
She said that she usually avoids black herself, as it is such a dramatic colour, attracting a lot of attention.
Cheerful multi-coloured scarves are better, she said, adding that in Finland Muslim women are allowed to decide themselves how much of their face they want to cover.
At the Itäkeskus shopping mall, many people are staring at me.
A young man with a can of cider in his hand looms up from behind a column and almost spills his drink in panic.
Okay, black is very dramatic.
I myself begin to get used to the garment. It is light and yet warm.
On the other hand, paying at the checkout is difficult with black gloves on.
Moreover, it is difficult to see properly from behind the veil. All I can distinguish is shapes in the evening light.
I want to sit down on a bench. A family with three children has bought icecreams and is thinking of sitting down next to me.
But a boy aged 5 or so nearly has a fit when he sees me.
The parents are in two minds. Yes, or no?
I could imagine that in their minds they are fighting between the sight of me and tolerance.
They sit down anyway, but the boy keeps looking askance at me, while he is steadfastly licking his icecream.
I decide to drop in to a flea market located in the car park on the roof of the adjacent Puhos mall.
On the Turunlinnantie pedestrian crossing, I suddenly meet an elderly Somali woman who says in a quiet voice:”As-Salamu Alaykum”, an Arabic greeting used by Muslims which means ”Peace be upon you”.
I am touched by her greeting. I do not usually have any contact with Muslim women. The same is repeated many times: Muslim women of different ages and from different ethnic origin wearing various styles of niqab greet me using words that I do not understand.
In front of the market I get a reaction from a Muslim man to my clothing.
An Iraqi or Turkish man is walking towards me with his friends.
He is staring at me with an incredible intensity.
I am staring back but he does not realise that because of my veil. I walk past him, but he keeps looking in my direction.
Later on another man is hanging out at the door of an ethnic store and shouting:”Hello! Hey! Wait!”
I do not wait.
I feel that a fully-covered Muslim woman would not dignify such a call with a response.
Such calls are hardly ever heard in Finland. When I was living in France, men sometimes shouted after me like that. I never answered.
Some hours later, I decide to take the Metro back into town, to the downtown Kamppi Center.
Usually I have to run away from eager cosmetologists or hair stylists who are badgering me with their sales pitch at the mall.
Not this time.
If you are wearing an abaya-niqab, you are left in peace.
Not bad at all.
She said that she usually avoids black herself, as it is such a dramatic colour, attracting a lot of attention.
Cheerful multi-coloured scarves are better, she said, adding that in Finland Muslim women are allowed to decide themselves how much of their face they want to cover.
At the Itäkeskus shopping mall, many people are staring at me.
A young man with a can of cider in his hand looms up from behind a column and almost spills his drink in panic.
Okay, black is very dramatic.
I myself begin to get used to the garment. It is light and yet warm.
On the other hand, paying at the checkout is difficult with black gloves on.
Moreover, it is difficult to see properly from behind the veil. All I can distinguish is shapes in the evening light.
I want to sit down on a bench. A family with three children has bought icecreams and is thinking of sitting down next to me.
But a boy aged 5 or so nearly has a fit when he sees me.
The parents are in two minds. Yes, or no?
I could imagine that in their minds they are fighting between the sight of me and tolerance.
They sit down anyway, but the boy keeps looking askance at me, while he is steadfastly licking his icecream.
I decide to drop in to a flea market located in the car park on the roof of the adjacent Puhos mall.
On the Turunlinnantie pedestrian crossing, I suddenly meet an elderly Somali woman who says in a quiet voice:”As-Salamu Alaykum”, an Arabic greeting used by Muslims which means ”Peace be upon you”.
I am touched by her greeting. I do not usually have any contact with Muslim women. The same is repeated many times: Muslim women of different ages and from different ethnic origin wearing various styles of niqab greet me using words that I do not understand.
In front of the market I get a reaction from a Muslim man to my clothing.
An Iraqi or Turkish man is walking towards me with his friends.
He is staring at me with an incredible intensity.
I am staring back but he does not realise that because of my veil. I walk past him, but he keeps looking in my direction.
Later on another man is hanging out at the door of an ethnic store and shouting:”Hello! Hey! Wait!”
I do not wait.
I feel that a fully-covered Muslim woman would not dignify such a call with a response.
Such calls are hardly ever heard in Finland. When I was living in France, men sometimes shouted after me like that. I never answered.
Some hours later, I decide to take the Metro back into town, to the downtown Kamppi Center.
Usually I have to run away from eager cosmetologists or hair stylists who are badgering me with their sales pitch at the mall.
Not this time.
If you are wearing an abaya-niqab, you are left in peace.
Not bad at all.
Source: hs.fi
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