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There was a desire to show that the wearing of the hijab was a choice made by the women themselves without any other influences. The women interviewed were articulate and the majority did not express that they had been submitted to any kind of pressure, including the forced wearing of the hijab, although some were possibly unaware that they were susceptible to outside pressures. There may have been some pressure to conform that was not discussed by the women as they may have been sub-conscious pressures with which the women were faced. It became clear throughout the research that friends and family were an increasingly important influence on the wearing of the hijab. Twenty-eight out of the forty-two women made references to their family including their husbands having an opinion on whether the hijab should be worn or not. There was plenty of positive encouragement among the women, and from their parents.

According to Miss BE (new wearer, under 25) although it was her choice to put on the hijab she admitted that it was her father’s positive response to her friend wearing the hijab that had prompted her to put it on: My trigger was a friend wearing the

headscarf properly. My father commented on how nice it looked and it made me think about doing it. Miss AK (long-term wearer, under 25) expressed how her mother already wore the hijab and: I was influenced by her. Silvestri (2009, p.15) notes how there are a number of Muslim women ‘who are following their friends’, and

Contractor (2012, p.86) reiterates this in her findings that some Muslim women she spoke to were wearing the hijab because they ‘admired older siblings or other relatives wore it’.

It was clear from some of the responses from the interviewees that there was a dialogue between the women and their parents. The previous examples show that these women obviously had a good relationship with their parents and were eager to follow their ideals and the examples set by them. There was also evidence from other

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interviewees who believed that the women who chose to wear or not wear the hijab were following the examples set down for them by their mothers and other members of the family. Mrs AB (long-term wearer, 25-39) clearly explained: Now girls are wearing them to copy their mothers. Mrs DA (past wearer, 25-39) described: My family don't wear the scarf either and proclaimed that in her opinion: Some wear the (Islamic) dress because father says or mother did. Silvestri (2009, p.10) also found evidence that ‘initially their parents’ were the women’s influence when it came to the transmission of the faith.

In opposition to this idea and proof that this is not always the case is Miss AJ (long-term wearer, under 25) who testified: My sisters and mother don't wear it, so she had made the decision to wear the hijab despite her sister and her mother not wearing it.

However, there must have been a degree of religious input and influence in her life as she had been fasting during Ramadan from a young age and it was at this point that she had made the decision to keep the hijab on once Ramadan had finished. Silvestri (2009, p.16) found that the younger generation of Muslims she interviewed ‘resort to Islam’ and ‘study, practice and interpret more critically than their mothers’ and this often includes the wearing of hijab. Miss EK (non-wearer, under 25) also made reference to her mother and understood the wearing of the hijab as something you did when you were much older. When talking about the hijab she asserted: My mother has just put it on in her fifties; this is normal.

There was also found to be a cultural element to the wearing of Islamic dress for a number of women. They spoke of wearing the dupatta as a teenager in Britain and how they often disliked wearing it. As noted in chapter five this type of head covering appeared to be worn under duress, but when the women were older the decision to not wear a head covering or to put on the fixed hijab became their choice. Werbner (2007, p.172) as noted in the literature review also makes reference to the wearing of the dupatta as ‘embedded in and embodies the female code of honour’ but questions whether the same idea is attributed to the wearing of the hijab. Mrs EI (non-wearer, 40+) who used to wear the cultural dress, the shalwar kameez and dupatta when living in Pakistan explained: My mother showed me how to cover and carried on to add: When my Father used to visit my home, I would wear it. Mrs BB (new wearer, 25-39) was in agreement: I did get pressure from parents to wear the scarf. It didn't

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matter if it was see through and falling off my head. Miss EH (non-wearer, 25-39) claimed: I know that a lot of teenagers don't want to wear it, but are made to. I think that culture has a lot to do with it.

Dwyer (1999, p.17) discovered that the pupils she interviewed were ‘challenging parental ideas about what was appropriate attire’ as some had expressed that parents sometimes ‘mix up religion and culture’ and the young women were creating ‘an alternative ‘hybrid’ identity’ which often included the wearing of the hijab. One of the pupils explicitly expressed how her hijab was the outward show of being a Muslim, but alongside this you had ‘‘to feel the hijab inside’’. She continued to explain how as part of your ‘Pakistani culture’ you were expected to show yourself off, but Islam required that you dress ‘in the simplest way as possible’, thus creating a tension between religion and culture.

Mrs AI (long-term wearer, 25-39) made a conscious decision to put on the hijab to please her family for cultural reasons: I started to wear it when I was fifteen years old.

It is cultural - just for sake of my family. Mrs AI appeared to be quite happy wearing the hijab and did not voice the need to question what she was doing. She knew it is also worn for religious belief and had read it in the Qur’an. Contractor (2012, p.86) and Bullock (2003, p.43) explain that some of their participants, just like mine, had grown up with the idea that the hijab should be worn, and describe how the women felt that it was something that they should do. In their research Read and Bartkowski (2000, p.410) also found evidence of women wearing the veil because they wanted ‘to feel tied to their culture’ and they wanted to ‘shore up their cultural identity’. This they found was particularly the case among those women who had moved to the U.S.A. from other countries.

Other women interviewed also referred to their parents when talking about the

wearing of the hijab. Miss CB (occasional wearer, under 25) had also put on the hijab to please the family: About thirteen when I first wore hijab, as my mother's family are quite religious. However, she continued to explain that she had recently taken it off to decide for herself if she wanted to wear the hijab or not: You can't wear it because someone asks you to do it. She concluded by saying: When I put it back on it will be for good and will be between me and God.

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During the interviews it also became clear that some of the respondents although openly instructed to wear the hijab were happy to do so. Miss BF (new wearer, under 25) had direct influence from her parents and put on the hijab: When I left college I started to wear it, my parents said I should. Contractor (2012, p.86) discovered in her research that some Muslim women use the hijab ‘as a tool to demand Islamic rights that may be denied to them for cultural reasons’. During my research Islamic rights were not expressed, although the interviewees were keen to show that the wearing of the hijab was their choice, and as a useful side effect gave them the freedom to do as they pleased. Mrs EJ (non-wearer, 40+) observed: The hijab does differentiate

between men and women. It does empower women, if cover you are free from families to go out. Anwar and Shah (2000, p.218) noted in their research that women were putting on the hijab in later life which in their opinion ‘gave them more freedom’.

Bullock (2003, p.61) found that the wearing of the hijab for some women gave them a sense of freedom and they felt that they could ‘cross gender boundaries’ when the hijab was worn. They also expressed the view that they were freer to leave the home and go about their business when the hijab was worn as ‘the attention that they might draw to oneself had been removed’. Bullock (2003, p.62) explains how the women can wear what they want to at home, and because the hijab is only worn when the women go outside it gives them the freedom to ‘interact with society’. The women disputed the fact that some ‘interpreters of the Qur’an and Sunnah’ believed that should stay at home and Bullock’s (2003, p.63) respondents referred to women who

‘played an active part in the community’ at the time of Muhammad including his wife.

Husbands were mentioned by some of the women as an influence on whether they wore the hijab or not, but these references tended to explain that it was not up to the husband what the wife chose to wear. Anwar and Shah (2000, p.226) also talk of some of their respondents putting on the hijab once they are married without the permission of their husbands and Bullock (2003, p.47) cites evidence of a Muslim women who initially started to wear the hijab ‘to please her husband’ but continues to explain that this was her choice and ‘there was no coercion on her husband’s part’.

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Mrs AC (long-term wearer, 25-39) emphasised: No one else says to wear it, not husband, it’s part of the religion. Mrs BB (new wearer, 25-39) was in agreement: My husband is fine. I don't wear it in front of him anyway. Mrs DC (past wearer, 25-39) had the view: If I’m with my husband I would wear it as a sign of respect. My husband doesn't mind if I don't wear it. Mrs DC expanded further that it was in fact her marriage that had given her the freedom to make her own choice with regard to covering her head. She often wore a: shalwar kameez with a long scarf and still does if she is out in the community, but with regard to wearing the fixed hijab she

affirmed: I got married and was given the freedom not to wear it. Bullock (2003, p.46) not only found evidence of husbands not encouraging their wives to put on the hijab, but found that the husband of one of her participants, even though a Muslim himself, disapproved so much of her putting on the hijab that ‘she could not wear it in his presence’. Bullock (2003, p.47) also cites a second example of a husband not approving of the wearing of the hijab and explains how ‘her husband had prevented her’ from wearing it and according to Bullock (2003, p.48) this ‘is the inverse of the stereotypical view of men forcing their wives to cover’.

There was also evidence that fathers were not all influencing their daughters to put on the hijab, but who had actively discouraged the wearing of the hijab and were

sometimes the reason why the women were not putting it on. One non-wearer, Miss EK, (non-wearer, under 25) was very specific about this and recited a story about her father’s views on the hijab and the advice he had given her as a teenager on the brink of putting on the hijab. This advice had stayed with her and she cited this as the main reason why she had not put on the hijab and probably never would. Here she was being given advice by her father not to wear it, which is in total contrast to the

perceived idea of Muslim women being forced to wear the hijab. Miss AG (long-term wearer, under 25) claimed: Aged seven until ten or eleven, I lived with Dad and he said not to wear it. Miss EH (non-wearer, 25-39) reiterated this: My Dad said head covers don't mean anything.

Contractor (2012, p.86) also found that some of her participants felt that the hijab was not needed to be worn by their ‘Western educated daughters’. Agreeing with this is Afshar (2008, p.421) who as stated in the literature review found evidence of women who are wearing the hijab when their parents and in particular their ‘dad’ would

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rather that they did not wear it. However, the evidence from Afshar (2008) differs from my research as according to Afshar (2008, p.421) this request not to wear the hijab is to avoid ‘all the hassle’ not because the parents do not think that it is important, and in her examples the women are clearly making their own choices to wear it regardless of the views of their parents.

Afshar (2008, p.424) also states that conversion did not mean a ‘rejection of home and hearth and kinship relations’ and thought that the hijab was ‘not one that alienates them from their kin and communities’. Evidence was found in this research that reiterates that point of view and Miss BJ (new wearer, 40+) mentioned: My family saw it coming, so wasn't much of a shock. I mixed with Muslims, so I didn't have non-Muslim friends at time. However, in contrast to the findings of Afshar (2008, p.424) some of the converts interviewed for this research were at odds with their parents for wearing the hijab. Mrs BL (new wearer, 25-39) in particular was asked not to wear it when she visited: My Mum asked me not to wear it when I visit. There was also evidence from another convert who had become estranged from her family due to her conversion. Mrs BK (new wearer, under 25) said: It is very hard for my family, and I don't see them that often. They are not comfortable, and don't want to be seen out with me. Bullock (2003, p.69) explains how ‘some converts have serious difficulties with their families, friends, and colleagues’ when they become Muslim and put on the hijab. She too found evidence of women who had negative comments and pressure from their families not to wear it and Bullock (2003, p.71) believes that these women have a ‘dual battle’ against their families who should be giving the women their support and the wider society.

Therefore, from the evidence from this research it does appear that conversion can mean a separation between the Muslim woman and her non-Muslim family who do not approve of her conversion. Read and Bartkowski (2000, p.406) also found evidence of ‘friction with family members’ although the conflict they found was between members of the same family, one of whom wore the hijab and one who had discarded it and felt that the other family member should too.

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There was a belief among some of the non-wearing interviewees that the women were pressured by their families to conform to the way that their parents wanted them to dress, although the research showed that by wearing the fixed hijab the majority of the women felt that they had made an informed choice of their own and the

interviewees’ comments on pressure to wear the hijab tended to be isolated and unusual examples that occurred infrequently throughout the meetings. Contractor (2012, p.90) in contrast to my research questioned her participants about the hijab being oppressive and a form of ‘male dominance’ but received the response that when it was ‘worn by choice’ it ‘was a symbol of their self-determination, independence and agency’. However, Contractor (2012, p.91) like my research also found that in relation to choice, those participants who wore the hijab felt that they were still wearing what they wanted to and that they ‘reiterated that choice was critical in such discourses’. Dwyer (1999, p.13) also found that her participants when talking about clothing ‘emphasised that they made their own choices and were not constrained by others’. Silvestri (2009, p. 10) identifies how Islam in the opinion of her respondents was ‘a very free choice and all-encompassing experience’ and they were given the choice whether to follow the ‘Islamic principles and practices’ or not. According to Silvestri (2009, p.14) the wearing of the hijab is one way that ‘Muslim women exert their free choice and stand up for and articulate their own human rights within a secular context’.

Standing out from the other interviewees, Mrs CA (occasional wearer, 40+) during her interview made it clear that her conversion was not complete, and she spoke of wearing the hijab due to outside persuasion. She did not express the same feelings of belonging to Islam in the same way that the other converts did. From the statements she made during her interview it was very clear that she hated wearing the hijab: I was pushed to wear it by my husband. I hate wearing it, I’m not allowed to go

swimming, or mix. In fact Mrs CA was the only interviewee who openly expressed the view that she did not like wearing the hijab. Her views and actions appeared to go against all of the views of the other women spoken to, whose assurance that the wearing of the hijab was their own decision that they had come to through knowledge and understanding of the religious texts. Mrs CA explained that: I have read it and I feel guilty for not wearing it, and tries to find excuses not to put on the hijab. She explained that her conversion to Islam and the wearing of the hijab had not been easy.

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Bullock (2003, p.51) asked her participants if there were any disadvantages to

wearing the hijab and also received answers such as ‘being hot in summer, the lack of opportunity to exercise, since Canada’s facilities are mixed sex’, although Bullock (2003, p.52) continues to explain that for her participants ‘the advantages’ gained from the wearing of hijab ‘outweighed any disadvantages’.

As a white woman from a predominantly white estate Mrs CA found that she lost her non-Muslim friends and family when she put on the hijab and then when she took it off again the Muslim community that she now lived amongst did not approve. Her conversion came since marriage to a Muslim man of Libyan origin and she seemed to live in fear of his extremist views. He was clearly a very strict Muslim and believed that his wife should read the Qur’an and be a practising Muslim too: My Husband thinks that I should put it on and start reading the Qur’an again.

Although the majority of the interviewees did not feel pressured into wearing the hijab, wanting to be like their friends was a factor that was playing a role in their

Although the majority of the interviewees did not feel pressured into wearing the hijab, wanting to be like their friends was a factor that was playing a role in their