Behind the Veil
What is up with the French anti-head scarf thing? The scarf has been out of public schools since 2004 and now president Nicolas Sarkozy's demanding that their legislature debate the legality of full face veils and the French police are cracking down on drivers wearing such. (Check that link for a great graphic explaining the difference between a hijab, a burka and everything in between. Oh wait, I couldn't resist and swiped a couple of the graphics right off the BBC site.) They say it's about safety and visibility while driving in a veil, but I really have to wonder since the guy was elected on an anti-immigrant platform. Would an Amish or Mennonite bonnet be a French public school no-no as well? Would they let Tinariwen drive their tour van while in stage custume?
We don't get the full face veil look a lot around here, but I would still invite Sarkozy to come on over and visit the West Bank and see how we all just get along; hijabs, hoodies, whatever. I was on hold for a ridiculous amount of time last week and was really wishing for a hijab so I could do the classic "tuck the cellphone into the hijab to leave both hands free" thing. So much cooler than the Jawbone look. In Minnesota, traditional Muslim women's clothing is worn over jeans, or with Sorrells. Not sure if anybody's talking about religious freedom vs. oppression of women when they're waiting for the #2 bus in January.
The news bit about Sarkozy made me think Muslim women musicians, the struggles they face and the waves they are making nonetheless.
Mauritanian vocalist Malouma's tune "Sable Emouvant" with DuOud was my top song of 2009 and I've mentioned her before. (Sorry I cannot find a link to a full length version of this great track.) 
Although I agree with the late Charlie Gillett that she's "another artist who has yet to deliver her full potential on an album under her own name," her unique sultry vocals moan and bend the notes in a way that sure bends my mind. Yet she's very prim and proper looking; no vixen action here. Her music attracted controversy when she dared to sing about topics such as divorce from a woman's perspective, and was actually banned in the 1990's because she supported reconciliation between Mauritiania's black and Moorish communities.
Times change, military regimes fall, and Malouma is now a senator, still fighting for women's rights. I'm still waiting for that perfect gritty solo disc from her.
A few months ago, I highlighted the new disc Smaa Smaa from Algerian Gnawa singer and musician Hasna El Becharia, calling her voice "weathered but warm." ( I can rip off my own blog posts, can't I?) 
She's lived in France for years for political reasons ["I had come before and left, as a tourist. This was my fourth visit. The fourth time I stayed. I like freedom."] and I've never seen a photo of her without a scarf. Will Sakozy want her to take it off to perform? Here's an older interview in which she explains why she could not play the guimbri in Algeria but does play it in France. (Sorry if I linked to this in my previous post on her; it's really quite interesting.) But so is this Atlas of Plucked Instruments link...
If you can believe everything you read online, it is interesting to note that in medieval times, female musicians were common in cosmopolitan Muslim centers like Baghdad. Conservative readings of the sayings of the Prophet, however tended to frown upon music more and more, so eventually the most conservative groups disallowed any music.
It is encouraging to see projects like England's Muslim Women Music Makers and their annual tours and Norwegian/Pakistani singer/activist Deeyah's Sisterhood mixtape project for Muslim women rappers. (Deeyah does not wear the veil.)But I have to wonder how much tougher it is in the more conservative Muslim states; in some places it is still forbidden for women to sing in the presence of men. How does an all-woman Iranian ensemble like MehrBanu do it?
Reading Marjane Satrape's Perseoplis and other graphic novels were a great insight about how it felt to be suddenly required to wear first a head scarf, then more of a shawl, then a chador in public. 
Her stories of college age private parties busted because of men and women hanging out sans chador are as chilling as her tale of shopping for bootleg Iron Maiden cassettes in her new head scarf is amusing.
What's worse? Having the government require you to wear headgear or having the government forbid your headgear?
I'd have to go underground if black watch caps were forbidden - I own four. I'm wearing one right now. Don't tell. Do check out some of this muisc.
Tinariwen
Tinariwen are often associated with just one image: that of Touareg rebels leading the charge, machine gun in hand and electric guitar slung over the shoulder. The band ditch this cliché on their fifth album ‘Tassili’ and it’s for the best. The founding members abandoned their weapons long ago and on this new album they have engineered a minor aesthetic revolution by setting the electric guitar – the instrument which became their mascot and made them famous – to one side and giving pride of place to acoustic sounds, recorded right in the heart of the desert, which is the landscape of their existence, the cradle of their culture and the source of their inspiration. You might even call this radical move a return to the very essence of their art, a return which, paradoxically, has also opened the doors to some intriguing collaborations with members of TV On The Radio, Nels Cline (Wilco’s guitarist) or The Dirty Dozen Brass Band.
