Unveiling freedom: Muslim women tourists in the West

Travel is often about break­ing free. In this spir­it, accord­ing to Ahmed Abdel Fat­tah, West­ern des­tin­a­tions offer veiled Muslim women tour­ists a unique chance to explore who they are, chal­lenge the norms of their own soci­et­ies, and exper­i­ence a refresh­ing sense of freedom.

Thanks to “Good Tour­ism” Insight Part­ner Tourism’s Hori­zon: Travel for the Mil­lions for invit­ing Dr Abdel Fat­tah to write this “Good Tour­ism” Insight. (You can write one too.)

A world of freedom and choice

Ima­gine step­ping into a place where the usu­al rules don’t apply. That’s what trav­el­ling to West­ern coun­tries may feel like for veiled Muslim women tour­ists. It can be an oppor­tun­ity to lift the weight of cul­tur­al expect­a­tions, even if just for a shorttime.

When these women travel, they may exper­i­ment with their out­fits in ways they wouldn’t dare back home. It may not be just about try­ing on new clothes; it can be about the empower­ment that comes from hav­ing free­dom and choice.

Muslim women tour­ists in the West may feel lib­er­ated to express them­selves without fear of judg­ment. Being in a new place may allow them to explore new styles, shed the con­straints of their every­day lives, and feelalive.

This free­dom may not be just a fleet­ing feel­ing; it can be a power­ful declar­a­tion against the ste­reo­types that often sur­round Muslim women. By step­ping out­side their usu­al norms, they may be able to reclaim their iden­tity and express them­selves authentically.

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The power of anonymity to resist norms

Anonym­ity can play an import­ant role in this exper­i­ence. In West­ern cit­ies, where nobody knows them, veiled Muslim women tour­ists can shed the expect­a­tions tied to their hijabs.

The feel­ing of being unknown can be incred­ibly lib­er­at­ing. Muslim women tour­ists may be able to try new things without wor­ry­ing about being judged.Their new­found sense of free­dom can let them enjoy activ­it­ies they might avoid back home; like late-night adven­tures or spon­tan­eous dance parties. It’s a chance to feel adven­tur­ous and youth­fulagain.

But it may not be just about dif­fer­ent clothes and activ­it­ies. It can also be about push­ing back against the norms that often hold Muslim women back.Muslim women tour­ists may use their travel exper­i­ences to chal­lenge soci­et­al expect­a­tions. This mix of free­dom and res­ist­ance may high­light the dif­fer­ent lay­ers of iden­tity theycarry.

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Lingering challenges

Of course, it’s not easy. The free­dom Muslim women may feel abroad may not erase the chal­lenges they face at home. While Muslim women may embrace new styles and beha­viours on vaca­tion, they still deal with the weight of their cul­tur­al backgrounds.

Even in a for­eign city, Muslim women tour­ists may worry about run­ning into acquaint­ances from home who may judge them and cri­tique their choices.There­fore, con­cerns about being judged by their com­munit­ies can linger dur­ing their hol­i­day, cre­at­ing a ten­sion that may dampen their hol­i­day mood and spir­it of freedom.

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Journeys of self-discovery

Ulti­mately, travel & tour­ism may provide veiled Muslim women with a unique plat­form to explore who they are and chal­lenge soci­et­al norms. It may allow them to express them­selves more freely than they often can athome.

While Muslim women tour­ists may encounter push­back from their com­munit­ies at home, nev­er­the­less their exper­i­ences in West­ern des­tin­a­tions can empower them in ways that can lead to per­son­al growth and social change.

But here are ques­tions to ponder:

If Muslim women keep trav­el­ling to West­ern des­tin­a­tions, can they import into their daily lives at least some of the choices they made dur­ing their holidays?

When they go back home, will they be able to main­tain at least some sense of the free­dom and self-expres­sion gained dur­ing their hol­i­day, or will the weight of soci­et­al expect­a­tions pull themback?

So, the next time you see a veiled Muslim woman enjoy­ing her vaca­tion in your city, remem­ber: she may be nav­ig­at­ing a com­plex path of empower­ment and self-discovery.

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About the author

Ahmed Abdel Fat­tah is a lec­turer at Macao Uni­ver­sity of Tour­ism (UTM), where he teaches qual­it­at­ive research meth­ods, tour­ism man­age­ment, and her­it­age courses. Dr Abdel Fat­tah received his PhD from Lin­coln Uni­ver­sity in Christ­ch­urch, New Zealand.

Ahmed provides train­ing lec­tures on her­it­age and spe­cial interest tour­ism products for the UTM Glob­al Centre for Tour­ism Edu­ca­tion and Train­ing, in col­lab­or­a­tion with The World Tour­ism Organ­iz­a­tion (UNWTO).

Ahmed has prac­tic­al exper­i­ence in the hotel and tour­ism industry, as well as in her­it­age tour­ism, across Egypt, the United States, Aus­tralia, and New Zea­l­and. He has also served as an over­seas pro­gram coordin­at­or for The Arab League Edu­ca­tion­al, Cul­tur­al and Sci­entif­ic Organ­iz­a­tion (ALECSO) in Leban­on and France. Pre­vi­ously, he taught at vari­ous edu­ca­tion­al insti­tu­tions in the United States and New Zealand.

Ahmed has a broad range of research interests, with a cur­rent focus on reli­gious tour­ism, estab­lished and emer­ging qual­it­at­ive research meth­ods in tour­ism stud­ies, cul­tur­al her­it­age inter­pret­a­tion, vis­it­or man­age­ment, and post-colonialism.

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Featured image (top ofpost)

Image by Carl Tron­ders (CC0) via Unsplash. “GT” cropped it, tweaked col­ours, and added “New horizons”.

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