Last Tuesday, when we were at the Israel Museum we also saw an exhibit on veiled women in Israel.
At first, when I saw the mannequins covered with many layers of dark colored clothes, I was a little creeped out and didn’t want to visit the exhibit, but it turned out to be very interesting.
The exhibit was about new trends in modest dress for Christians, Muslims, and Jews. There were mannequins dressed as women of different religions and explanations about what they were wearing, and a video with three actresses (one actress played the role of a Jew, one played the role of a Muslim, and one played the role of a Christian) talking about the different layers of clothes that they wear.
The style of Christian nuns’ outfits date back to the beginning of Christianity, whereas the dress for modest Jewish and Muslim women was only redesigned in the last 30 years.
The clothes for women of all three religions tries to hide the shape of the women’s body.
I was quite surprised to see how many layers some women wear.
I do not think that women should be forced to wear a certain type of clothing, nor do I understand why women would chose to wear such limiting clothes, but it was important for me to see this exhibit and I enjoyed it.
– Naomi
P.S. Below are some of the mannequins and their descriptions
Jewish modesty women’s Shabbat outfit (5 layers)
Jewish modesty women’s outfit (8 layers)
Russian orthodox nun’s habit for ceremonies and religious holidays (8 layers)
Carmelite nun’s habit for ceremonies and religious holidays (5 layers)
Benedictine nun’s habit for ceremonies and and religious holidays (5 layers)
Muslim women’s outfit (munaqqaba)
Muslim women’s and girl’s prayer suits (taqm al-salā)
Religious Druze women’s outfit (mulaththama)