NOTES


  1. Though men have been known to have a history of the veil as well, it does not begin to have the connotations that the veil has for women. Furthermore, it is not within the scope of this paper. Unless otherwise stated, my discussion deals with the veil as it is worn by women.

  2. Please refer to The American Heritage Dictionary for a definition of institution. Discussions with Prof. Naftaly concerning social control as an aspect of religion: Anthropology 7: Magic, Religion and Witchcraft, Laney College, Oakland, California, Fall 1992.

  3. Truth or Dare, 8-16. Starhawk distinguishes between different types of power: power-over, power-from-within and power-with. She suggests that power can be used in positive and negative ways when she writes,
    Power-over is linked to domination and control; power-from-within is linked to the mysteries that awaken our deepest abilities and potential. Power-with is social power, the influence we wield among equals (9).


  4. See note 1.
  5. Bingham cites Gen. ii. 21, 24 in his discussion of "the original marriage institution."
  6. Ibid.
  7. Off With Her Head!, "Veils, Virgins, and the Tongues of Men and Angels," 131.
  8. The Holy Bible 177.
  9. There is no doubt that Paul refers to a veil (as opposed to long hair) when telling women to cover themselves because, in Corinthians 11:5 he says that were women to not cover themselves, that would be the same as if they had shaven their hair altogether. By implying that not covering themselves is not the same as being covered, only similar, he suggests that covering is more than simply having hair.
  10. The Holy Bible, 177, 11:10.
  11. Ibid 11:9. In 11:10, Paul justifies the presence of an authority upon woman's head "on account of the angels." While this part of the passage is not immediately relevant to this discussion, an interpretation of the significance of the angels can be found in D'Angelo's "Veils, Virgins, and the Tongues of Men," in Off With Her Head!
  12. The Christian church claims that woman is simply the vessel that carries a child to term, while man's semen is responsible for the child's creation.
    Greek mythology has also been responsible for attributing reproductive powers to its male figures. For example, similar to the case of Adam's rib, Zeus was attributed with the birth of Athene from his head after swallowing pregnant Metis, the immortal goddess of wisdom (Graves, Greek Myths, 46). Ironically, however, using the previously mentioned symbolism, Athene, having been born of Zeus' head, has authority over him.
  13. "Vail" is the archaic form of the word veil. Bingham 83.
  14. Sissa 96.
  15. Ibid 97.
  16. Ibid 96.
  17. Ibid 94.
  18. Walker, Woman's Dictionary, 317.
  19. Sissa 109-117.
  20. Ibid 106-109.
  21. Ibid 106; Walker, Women's Encyclopedia, 420. Walker refers to Hymen as a goddess rather than a god. Also, according to Walker, "hymen" is possibly the origin of the word, "hymn."
  22. Sissa 114.
  23. Ibid 108.
  24. Ibid.
  25. For example, Bingham cites Tertullian in reference to the veil.
  26. American Heritage 1330, Off With Her Head!, "Veils, Virgins, and the Tongues of Men and Angels," 131, 143.
  27. Off With Her Head!, "Veils, Virgins, and the Tongues of Men and Angels, 144-145.
  28. Ibid 145.
  29. Ibid.
  30. Ibid.
  31. Ibid 146.
  32. This comes decidedly close to the concept of Eve as the original sinner, responsible for Adam's, and all of mankind's, downfall. (Refer to Genesis 2-3 for the story of Eve and Adam's encounter with the forbidden fruit).
  33. Euripides 89-91/[1097-1122].
  34. Graves, The Greek Myths, 127.
  35. Ibid 129. See Siebers for a contemporary interpretation of Medusa's mask, 11-14.
  36. Graves, The White Goddess, 230-231.
  37. Ibid 70.
  38. Graves, The Greek Myths, 205, and The White Goddess, 219, 230. Also, Walker, The Woman's Encyclopedia, 629.
  39. Homer, The Odyssey, 188.
  40. Homer, The Iliad, 27.
  41. According to Genesis, as punishment for Eve's disobedience, God casts her and Adam out of the Garden of Eden, thereby denying them access to the Tree of Life that would have made them, like God, immortal (The Holy Bible, Genesis, 3:22-4).
  42. Graves, The Greek Myths, 244.
  43. Ibid 129.
  44. The American Heritage Dictionary 1144.
  45. Walker, The Women's Dictionary, 161.
  46. Whether or not the Greeks were among the first to demonify the concept of death is unclear. However, there can be no doubt that the immortality worshipping Greeks viewed death in a negative light.
  47. Comte 58.
  48. The American Heritage Dictionary 960.
  49. The Orange Fairy Book 28.
  50. Ibid 26-7.
  51. Ibid 28.
  52. Notes from a course taken at the University of Granada titled, "Cultura Islámica en España (Islamic Culture in Spain).
  53. Hoodfar 105.
  54. An article in the San Francisco Chronicle on 1 March 1996 displays a picture of veiled women with the inscription, "Four Coptic women walked in one of the narrow alleys of the Christian village of Azbit el-Iqbat."
  55. Since the topic of the gaze and its relation to the veil has already been discussed at length, it will only be dealt with briefly in this section.
  56. Hoodfar 106.
  57. Milani 20-1.
  58. Ibid 21.
  59. Ibid.
  60. The American Heritage Dictionary 663, 513.
  61. Milani 43-4.
  62. Mernissi 100.
  63. Hurston.
  64. Said 332.
  65. Taken from the English translation title, "Forbidden Gaze, Severed Sound," by Assia Djebar in Women of Algiers in Their Apartment.
  66. See note 54.
  67. Milani 25.
  68. Ibid 39.
  69. Djebar, Women of Algiers, 138.
  70. Ibid 138.
  71. Walker, The Woman's Dictionary, 309.
  72. Djebar, Women of Algiers, 142.
  73. Ibid.
  74. Milani 41.
  75. Djebar, Fantasia, 203.
  76. Ibid 204.
  77. Ibid 155.
  78. Ibid 156.
  79. Said 2.
  80. Said 3.
  81. Discussion with Prof. Moallem.







BIBLIOGRAPHY


Ahmed, Leila, "The Discourse of the Veil" in Women and Gender in Islam, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992).Order This Book

American Heritage Dictionary, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1981., ed. William Morris).Order This Book (1992 Edition)

Bingham, J.F., Christian Marriage: The Ceremony, History and Significance, (New York: E.P. Dutton & Company, 1900).

Comte, Fernand, (Edinburgh: W & R Chambers, 1991).

Djebar, Assia, Fantasia: An Algerian Calvacade, (Portsmouth: Heinemann, 1993, translated by Dorothy S. Blair).Order This Book

-----. Women of Algiers in Their Apartment, (Charlottesville: Caraf Books, 1992, translated by Marjolijn de Jager).Order This Book

El Saadawi, Nawal, The Hidden Face of Eve: Women in the Arab World, (London: Zed Books, 1980, translated and edited by Dr. Sherif Hetata).Order This Book

Estés, Clarissa Pinkola, Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype, (New York: Ballantine Books, 1992).Order This Book

Euripides, Alcestis, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1974, translated by William Arrowsmith).Order This Book

Graves, Robert, The Greek Myths, (England: Penguin, 1992).Order This Book

-----. The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth, (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1966). Order This Book

Holy Bible: King James Version, (New York: American Bible Society, 1816). An Interesting Alternative

Homer, The Iliad, (Garden City: Anchor Books, 1975.) Order This Book (Penguin Classics version unfortunately)

-----. The Odyssey, (Garden City: Anchor Books, 1963). Order This Book (Vintage books version unfortunately)

Hoodfar, Homa, "Return to the veil: Personal strategy and public participation in Egypt" in Working Women: International Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology, 1991, edited by Redclift & Sinclair).

Hurston, Zora Neale, I Love Myself, (Old Westbury: Feminist Press, 1979, edited by Alice Walker). Order This Book

Mernissi, Fatima, The Veil and the Male Elite: A Feminist Interpretation of Women's Rights in Islam, (Addison Wesley Publishing Company, Inc., 1987, translated by Mary Jo Lakeland). Order This Book

Milani, Farzaneh, "The Concept of Veiling," in Veils and Words: The Emerging Voices of Iranian Women Writers, (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1992). Order This Book

Off With Her Head!: The Denial of Women's Identity in Myth, Religion, and Culture, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995, edited by Howard Eilberg-Schwartz and Wendy Doniger). Order This Book

Orange Fairy Book, The, (New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1968, edited by Andrew Lang). Order This Book

Said, Edward, Orientalism, (New York: Vintage Books, 1979).

San Francisco Chronicle: "Fear Takes an Egyptian Village Hostage: Muslim Fighters massacred 8 in Christian town," 3 March 1996.

Siebers, Tobin, The Mirror of Medusa, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983). Order This Book

Sissa, Giulia, Greek Virginity, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1990, translated by Arthur Goldhammer). Order This Book

Starhawk, "Truth or Dare," Truth or Dare: Encounters with Power, Authority, and Mystery, (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1987). Order This Book

Walker, Barbara G., The Woman's Dictionary of Symbols and Sacred Objects, (New York: HarperCollins, 1988). Order This Book

-----. The Women's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, (New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 1983). Order This Book



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