“…Although women's practices of veiling predate the Islamic context, this symbol has entered into the popular imagination in Western societies as the quintessential marker of the Muslim world and as a practice synonymous with religious fundamentalism and extremism. In this conception, the bodies of veiled women operate as cultural signifiers of social difference and social threat and represent fidelity to a patriarchal order, which is a danger to women's autonomy (Bullock, 2002;MacMaster & Lewis, 1998;Read & Bartkowski, 2000). These notions can be traced back to their Orientalist origins where depictions of veiled Muslim women in the colonial imaginary ranged from oppressed and subjugated women, to the highly sexualized and erotic imagery of the sensual, yet inaccessible, harem girl (Alloula, 1986;Bullock, 2000Bullock, , 2002Hoodfar, 1993;Kahf, 1999;Mabro, 1991;MacMaster & Lewis, 1998;Said, 1979;Yegenoglu, 1998;Zine, 2002).…”