Letters to the Editor
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80% wear veils?
I have a hard time believing that 80% of Egyptian women wear veils.
I spent about 3 weeks in Egypt earlier this year, and while veiled women weren't, strictly speaking, uncommon, they were far from being the norm. I'm guessing the writer of the original article has confused veils, which cover the face, with headscarves, which only border the face. And there is a huge difference between the two in terms of a person's ability to interact with others normally.
Indeed in 3 months travelling through 4 Islamic countries, we probably saw only 20 or 30 women who chose to cover their faces. We saw as many women wearing short skirts (well, above the knee, anyway) in one Damascus restaurant. And, while Syrians are much more liberal than Egyptians in their interpretation of Islam, perhaps feelings against the veil are not as out of the ordinary as they might sound to those whose only contact with the Muslim world is through the media.