- Ghayasuddin Siddiqui of the Muslim Parliament of Great Britain, a leading advocacy group, quoted in the Globe and Mail, October 23, 2006
An Anglican school in England suspends a twenty-four-year-old teaching assistant for wearing a niqab,the Muslim head covering that leaves only the eyes exposed. France has banned the niqab in public schools. In Montreal, a ymca clashes with its Jewish neighbours, members of a Hasidic synagogue; they want the windows of the gym frosted so their worshippers won’t be exposed to the sight of skimpily clad young women mounting the Stairmasters. Elsewhere, some people have petitioned Joan Rivers to take the veil. All over the world, there seems to be confusion about which parts of which women we ought to be able to see.
But Western women have their version of veils as well. Let us project these into the near future and imagine how Islamic cultural scholars might interpret the ruthless orthodoxy of high fashion, the pressure to expose the flesh,and the curious body coverings (and uncoverings) of the secular, middle-class, North American professional woman.
the birkinah
In the evolution of the handbag, it’s not clear when animalskin pouches for carrying personal items began to signal status and self-worth for Western women — the classic Birkin Bag, for example, now starts at $8,000 — but the trend dates back at least three decades. This drift toward handbag extremism has resulted in the Birkinah, a purse that covers the entire female body, with zippered slits for the eyes. Some reformist sects allow narrow leg holes for mobility. When wearing the Birkinah, the woman crosses over from merely possessing (inhavingness) a large purse, with its connotation of wealth and privilege, to actually becoming the living incarnation of a large purse (inbaghavida). (The pejorative term for an adherent of the Birkinah is “bagh lady.”)
Most Birkinahs are made from the skin of animals, with brass or chrome tooling reminiscent of the fins and fenders of early Buicks, once a protective covering for Western men. Upper-class adherents sometimes use motorized carts (birkinabaghnen) to get around; others employ sturdy personal assistants to carry them from place to place. These assistants are known as “my purs-on” (not to be confused with “my people”). However, the overtones of slavery associated with the use of purs-ons has led to a backlash in some areas. And critics say that the high cost of this body covering has created a caste system in the West. (This began long before bags were worn; for years, a woman carrying a Prada tote could enter a room and establish her status over a Guess-bearing woman simply by shifting her bag from one shoulder to another, as in, “She bagged me.”)
Handbags also have a redemptive aspect. After the Bill Clinton sex scandal in the United States, Monica Lewinsky chose to become a designer of handbags in a bid to restore her reputation. (This failed.) Some claim the handbag has military beginnings, in the furry sporran of the Scottish warrior. Others point to the Queen’s handbag: what does it hold? A pleated rain hat and a PowerBar? No one knows, but it is considered an important precursor to the Birkinah.
The inventor of this covering, Sally Rypohl, clearly remembers when the idea of the live-in handbag came to her: “I was trying to walk through the revolving door at Barneys with a large Versace bag over my shoulder when it snagged in the doors. Then I spun around for six or seven minutes before a pedestrian freed me. And as I spun, I had a vision — I saw myself naked, clad only in a kind of leather shroud with a hood. I no longer had to worry about haircuts, manicures, pedicures, my hemline, or my waistline. I could give up Botox, give up Restylane. Now I live inside my bag, protected and anonymous. I can be, quite literally, ‘in’ fashion.”
Although many view the Birkinah as a garment that signifies submissiveness to the whims of fashion, Rypohl claims it is a liberating experience to live free from the scrutiny of men who have been overexposed to Paris Hilton and Scarlett Johansson. The leg holes may restrict circulation, “but they make us look thinner,” claims one happy convert.
Those who have adopted the Birkinah report that they feel “more organized” and “less vulnerable” when wearing their purses. “At social occasions, we can also hang from wall hooks without becoming tired,” one points out. Rather than diminishing their sex appeal, some say the Birkinah actually heightens arousal in their partners. “I find it sexy,” says Luther, husband of Rypohl and a Birkinah booster. “When she’s hidden, I feel safer. And this way, she could be anyone. That’s hot.”
