The First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, caused a small controversy when she arrived in Saudi Arabia this week for the funeral of King Abdullah with her hair uncovered.
Some observers, including politicians, took to social media to herald the move as a bold symbol of protest against Saudi Arabia’s oppression of women. Republican Senator Ted Cruz wrote on Twitter: “Kudos to @FLOTUS for standing up for women & refusing to wear Sharia-mandated head-scarf in Saudi Arabia. Nicely done.”
Obama was also heavily criticised for the decision by others. The hashtags #Michelle_Obama_Unveiled and #Michelle_Obama_Immodest began trending on Twitter, and many users took to them to convey their offense at the first lady’s ‘disrespectful’ decision.
Images of the first lady at various points in the couple’s trip were splashed across social media, with supporters and critics alike declaring it a revolutionary move.
The truth however, as has been pointed out in the days since, is that it wasn’t revolutionary at all. It can barely be described as unusual.
Obama’s decision not to wear a headscarf is in keeping with US diplomatic conventions. The majority of US delegates to visit Saudi Arabia in the past, including first lady Laura Bush, also did not wear head coverings.
“The attire the first lady wore on this trip is consistent with what first ladies in the past have worn – First Lady Laura Bush, what Secretary Clinton wore on her business to Saudi Arabia, Chancellor Merkel on her business to Saudi Arabia and including other members of the United States delegation at the time,” said the White House principal deputy press secretary Eric Schultz.
Even in the same visit, Condoleezza Rice and Nancy Pelosi chose not to cover their hair, as did many other women in the delegation.
The first lady, along with her fellow female delegates, wore loose-fitting, conservative clothing throughout the trip, as is dictated by the US Department of State’s website: “Women should observe the strict Saudi dress code and wear conservative and loose-fitting clothes.”
Whilst Michelle Obama’s decision to spend her trip with her hair uncovered is actually not out of the ordinary, the world reacted as if it was. So why is it that this particular headscarf-free visit sparked so much debate?
Perhaps it was because even though Michelle Obama likely did not intend to make a statement about the oppression of women, the image of her uncovered hair invoked a contrast the world sees more clearly now than it ever has in the past. Tackling the oppression of women is something politicians from countries the world over have begun to take seriously in recent years, and perhaps the death of King Abdullah and subsequent discussions about Saudi Arabia’s future, paired with an image of an unveiled Michelle Obama, sparked a debate about women’s oppression that the world has been waiting to have.
In Saudi Arabia, women are still not able to enroll in higher education, get married, travel or even seek certain types of medical attention without the permission of a man.
Women are not allowed to drive under any circumstances and are required to wear a full-length black robe called an abaya as well as a head covering whenever they are in public spaces in Saudi Arabia.
Until this year, women were not allowed to run for public office in local government elections. They were not even allowed to vote in them.
Michelle Obama’s decision to go uncovered in Saudi Arabia is not consequential, but the oppression of women that still occurs in many countries is. Women remain stripped of their personal and political freedoms in so many countries (including, to some extent, our own). Perhaps, our collective determination to turn the tide on that oppression is why the first lady’s decision to leave her hair uncovered struck a global chord.