1st in this blog

It appears that my continual attempts to consolidate communication back to America keeps running into troubles. Due to the semi-unavailability of my other blog this one will have to do for consistency's sake. When I can get to my old blog, I'll post the content here.


Hijab:
Most of the everyday Jordanian women I see walking down the street wear the hijab, or headscarves that are the typical image of Moslem women in the west. There have been two very notable exceptions. One at the concert where the women were very dolled up for a western influenced rock band. The other at the university where women and men freely associate (at least from what I can tell from my few minutes there). In either case I don't know what to make of it. In the states when a woman wears a hijab, there is a very definite connotation of piety and when an arab woman doesn't wear hijab, it's not necessarily a statement against such piety.
Here it's different. When a woman doesn't wear a hijab, the traditional method of interaction between men and women (extremely restrictive) is suspect, however this does not imply that communication is any easier. The women without hijab may be trying to be "western" yet still keep their distance from men by being more conservative in manners. Conversely the women who do wear hijab are not necessarily conservative. The original purpose of hijab was to allow women an opportunity to associate freely with men by removing *ahem* distracting elements from discourse. The Koranic justification for hijab is weak at best and it's largely an aspect of traditional culture. During the 50's at the heyday of Arab Nationalism, there were very few hijab in sight. However as the dream of a unified Arab nation state failed gradually, the allegiance to the state leaders as cultural pioneers has also fallen.
This contradiction between the traditional gender dynamic, as restrictive, and the religious and cultural gender roles, as relatively free (most women hold jobs and are educated, though it's not as free as in the states) confuses me. The absence of hijab further confuses me. Since they are not the norm, what exactly are they rebelling against, or are they rebelling against anything?
Needless to say though, the hijab is a choice here, though what exactly is being chosen remains a bit of a mystery.