The veil shifted from passive tradition into an active revolutionary instrument

Evidence

There is thus a historic dynamism of the veil that is very concretely perceptible in the development of colonization in Algeria. In the beginning, the veil was a mechanism of resistance, but its value for the social group remained very strong. The veil was worn because tradition demanded a rigid separation of the sexes, but also because the occupier was bent on unveiling Algeria. In a second phase, the mutation occurred in connection with the Revolution and under special circumstances. The veil was abandoned in the course of revolutionary action. What had been used to block the psychological or political offensives of the occupier became a means, an instrument. The veil helped the Algerian woman to meet the new problems created by the struggle. — Frantz Fanon, A Dying Colonialism, 216

Categorization

• XREF: Shows how a cultural form is repurposed under colonial pressure — parallel to how colonial medicine/other institutions get re-signified by the colonized. — connects to: The revolutionary struggle itself loosened the veil’s taboo, then reversed it; The veil’s meaning reversed from resistance symbol to revolutionary instrument; Algerian women’s veiling practices changed without being part of the revolution’s program (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Algerian women’s veiling practices changed without being part of the revolution’s program #qualifies (0.75)
• The revolution transformed customs, language, and master-slave relations #expands (0.60)
• France targeted the veil deliberately in the 1930s after ethnological studies #contradicts (0.50) — Frantz Fanon, A Dying Colonialism, 131