Recently an online survey was conducted by University of Michigan from the people of 7 Muslim countries during the year 2011-2013. These countries included Tunisia, Pakistan, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
The survey included a question on how women should dress in public. 6 options were given in the form of headshots including shuttlecock, burka, niqab and other different forms of head covers popularly used in these countries. The 6th headshot was of a woman not covering her head at all.
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Which Dress is Most Appropriate for Women?
Answers of 3,523 Pakistani people who responded to survey show that 32% people favoured niqab (as in photo 2). Abaya was the second most popular way of women dressing as 31% people voted for it (as in photo 3). Surprisingly only 2% people favoured photo 6 where woman has no scarf or veil at all. As expected shuttlecock burka won only3% votes from the respondents. It was quite expected because shuttlecock burka is mostly used in tribal areas ofKhyber Pakhtunkhwa and almost all of Afghanistan and it is under constant discussion in Pakistan for being too covering and women have to wear it in very hot and humid weather of Pakistan, which many feel is quite torturing.
As far as the survey respondents in Pakistan is concerned, 51% of the respondents were male. It implies that the results are not overwhelmed by Male but almost an equal share of thought was delivered by female participants as well.
Results vary drastically from country to country as the following graphs reveal the results in Pakistan and other participating countries.
Results from Pakistan for the question of most appropriate dress for women
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Results from Egypt for the question of most appropriate dress for women
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Results from Iraq for the question of most appropriate dress for women
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Results from Lebanon for the question of most appropriate dress for women
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Results from Saudi Arabia for the question of most appropriate dress for women
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Results from Tunisia for the question of most appropriate dress for women
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Results from Turkey for the question of most appropriate dress for women
