The article was called “Cover Story.”

It was about non-Muslim head-covering for religious reasons. The Twin Tiers is Mennonite country, and we see it all the time. Generally, both men and women cover their heads.

I can remember the early days after the Vatican Councils. We had a die-hard pastor who couldn't let go. He sermonized on the "fine, old tradition of women covering their heads." He had tears in his eyes, begging us.

Was he mourning the loss of formal Sunday clothes? If so, he was right; it probably was the first death knell of the Sunday parade of fashion.

Was he mourning the loss of women's secondary status? He seemed the epitome of the Pauline cleric, so I would guess this was his grief. We resented it. He would stop a bare-headed lady on her way out after service, and publicly chastise her.

So this trend toward ladies once again covering their heads makes my lip curl.

There are ladies who come to services with what is obviously a chapel veil. If they are being old-fashioned for the sake of being old-fashioned, I don’t get it. Was it a wonderful thing to be subservient?

Some are probably using their veils as a sort of habit. That I can understand. It falls in the same category as the Mennonite, Amish, and any religion that insists both sexes cover their heads.

But: Roman Catholics were given to understand that women no longer wear head coverings because we are all children--and heirs--of our God. For a person to decide to cover his or her head on religious grounds is fine with me, as long as it is an outward sign of something other than sex-based subservience.

I personally wear hats year-round, and could easily expand my wardrobe to include fancy hats for church. But like men, I tend to remove them inside. The showier ones would obstruct the view of the people behind me. It would not surprise me to learn that (going back in time) that’s the reason men are required to remove them, also.

But ladies didn’t. And that’s the point. Ladies were required to cover their heads in church. After all, we ate the apple that caused all the trouble, and somebody had to pay for that. How convenient that the stronger sex decided to impose it on the weaker! Interesting that the weaker sex is beginning to wear the imposed symbol again.

What could have caused these ladies to take a giant step backwards into the dark ages?

pb
Little Pond