Headscarf

Headscarves may specifically have a religious significance or function, or be expected as a matter of social custom, the two very often being confused.

Judaism, under Halakhah (Jewish Law), promotes modest dress among women and men. Many married Orthodox Jewish women wear a headscarf (mitpahat or tichel), snood, turban, or shpitzel to cover their hair. The Tallit is commonly worn by Jewish men, especially for prayers, which they use to cover their heads in order to recite the blessings, although not all men do this. It also may not apply to the entire prayer service, sometimes only specific sections such as the Amidah. The Kohanim (priests) also cover their heads and shoulders with the tallit during the priestly blessing, so as to conform to Halakah which states that the hands of the priests should not be seen during this time as their mystical significance to the hand position.

Hutterite Anabaptist Christian women wearing headscarves.

A Christian woman in Russia wearing a shawl while reading the Bible.

The Bible, in 1 Corinthians 11:4–13, instructs women to wear a head covering, while men are to pray and worship with their heads uncovered.[13][14] In the early Church, Christian head-covering with an opaque cloth veil was universally taught by the Church Fathers and practiced by Christian women.[15][3][16][17][18] The practice continues in many parts of the world, such as Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Ethiopia, India, Pakistan, and South Korea.[19]

The Early Church Father John Chrysostom (c. 347 – 407) delineated Saint Paul's teaching, explaining that Paul said a man praying with a head covering "dishonoureth his head", while Christian women should always wear a cloth head covering. Paul compared a woman not wearing a veil to her being shaven, which Chrysostom stated is "always dishonourable".[7][20]

The Church Fathers taught that because the hair of a woman has sexual potency, it should only be for her husband to see and covered the rest of the time.[21] To some extent, the covering of the head depended on where the woman was, but it was usual outside and on formal occasions, especially when praying at home and worshipping in church.[19][22] Certain styles of Christian head coverings were an indication of married status; the "matron's cap" is a general term for these.[13]

Many Anabaptist Christian women (Amish/Para-Amish, Schwarzenau Brethren, Bruderhof, Hutterites, River Brethren, Apostolic Christians, Charity Christians and Mennonites) wear their headscarf at all times, except when sleeping; these head coverings are usually in the form of a hanging veil or kapp.[23][6]

In countries with large Eastern Orthodox Christian population such as Romania[24] or Russia[25] headscarves and veils are used by Christian women in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church, Assyrian Church of the East, and Roman Catholic Church.[26][27] A few years back, all women in Russia who attended Divine Liturgy wore head-coverings. A woman having her head covered means that she honors the Lord. Head-coverings also symbolizes that a woman is married and that her husband is the head of the family. Little girls also have their heads covered when they go to Mass at church, not because they are married, but in order to honor the Lord. Today, young Russian Orthodox women and little girls still cover their heads when going to church, although it differs in style from those worn by women of older age (grandmothers).

The Roman Catholic Church required all women to wear a head covering over their hair in church until the 1980s; in Spain, these take the form of the mantilla. Women meeting the Pope in formal audiences are still expected to wear them. Martin Luther, the German Reformer, as well as John Calvin, a major figure in the Reformed Churches, also expected women to cover their heads in church, as did John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Churches.[28]

In many rural areas, women, especially widows, continue to observe the traditional Christian custom of head-covering, especially in the Mediterranean, as well as in eastern and southern Europe; in South Asia, it is common for Christian women to wear a head covering called a dupatta.[29][19] At times the styles of covering using simple cloth became very elaborate, with complicated layers and folding, held in place with hair pins. Among the many terms for head-coverings made of flexible cloth are wimple, hennin, kerchief, gable hood, as well as light hats, mob caps and bonnets. Some English speakers use the word "babushka" (the word for "grandma" in Russian: бaбушка^ⓘ) to indicate a headscarf tied below the chin, as still commonly worn in rural parts of Europe. In many parts of Europe, headscarves are used mainly by elderly women, and this led to the use of the term "babushka", an East Slavic word meaning "grandmother". Some types of head coverings that Russian women wear are: circlet, veil, and wimple.

Islam promotes modest dress among men and women. According to some, it is the "khimar" mentioned in the Quran. Many of these garments cover the hair, ears and throat, but do not cover the face. Not all Muslims believe that the hijab in the context of head-covering is a religious ordainment in the Quran.[11][12]

The keffiyeh is commonly used by Muslim men.

Headscarves and veils are used by some Muslim women and girls, so that no one has the right to expose her beauty but except her husband, father, son, brother, uncles, grandfather. For women, the Muslim religious dress varies, and various cultures include hijab, burqa, chador, niqab, dupatta, or other types of hijab, while others reject all of these dress codes. The religion prescribes modest behaviour or dress in general.[30]

Young Sikhs often wear a cloth wrapping to cover their hair, before moving on to the dastar. Older Sikhs may wear them as an under-turban.

Brookside Mill workers in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, photographed by Lewis Wickes Hine in 1910.

Armenians picking cotton in the 1930s.

A clerk working for Alitalia wears a headscarf in 1970

Practical reasons for headscarf use at work include protection from bad weather and protection against industrial contamination, for example in dusty and oily environments. A headscarf can ensure that the hair does not interfere with the work and get caught-up in machinery since long hair can get into rotating parts of machines, so this is avoided either by means of a suitable head covering like a cap, hairnet or kerchief; cutting the hair short; or by putting on a headscarf. Hygiene also requires wearing a head cover at some workplaces, for example in kitchens and hospitals. Such usage has gone on since about 1900, when women's use of mob caps and Dutch bonnets declined.

Workers wore them at work to protect their hair from dirt. Farmers used them to see off the weather and dirt. Soviet labour units of the 1930s and 1940s wore them as part of their uniform (where uniforms were available). This habit was common until about the 1950s in the West for farmers and 1960s factory workers, and 1970s in the former USSR for farmers and factory workers.