A Sociological Study on Women, Veil and Empowerment in Urban and Rural Bangladesh

Abstract

This study is conducted to examine whether there is any relationship between veil and women empowerment in the context of rural and urban Bangladesh. In this study the reasons for wearing veil, the reflection of empowerment indicators like participation in politics, decision making, participation in extra-curricular activities, property inheritance, educational attainment and control over personal income in the lives of veiled women, their perception on gendered division of labour, and their sense of aesthetics and expressionism have been investigated. Then this study explains whether the practice of wearing veil empowers or disempowers women in the context of Bangladesh. Several theoretical insights on gender socialization and gender relation have been adopted. In this study, qualitative method is employed to offer an elaborate description of the life experiences and the perception of the veiled women on women empowerment in the light of wearing veil. The responses of the female veiled students studying at different types of educational institutions like medical college, university and madrasa who come from both urban and rural areas are collected and the responses of some employed veiled women i.e., teacher, doctor and banker are collected by using case study method and then analyzed to uncover the problem of the veiling practice to the path of women empowerment in Bangladesh. The extent of occupational segregation in relation to their practice of wearing veil is substantial in the context of Bangladesh that more or less limits their chance of being empowered.