Michelle Obama Headscarf Dispute Reveals Poor Journalism

AMBER LI
Staff Writer

Saudi Arabia is one of the few countries in the world where women are required by law to cover their heads. As stated in Religion Dispatches, women wear headscarves for religious reasons and to show signs of modesty, intelligence and purity. Since it is practiced by many women in Saudi Arabia, it was portrayed to be quite controversial when Michelle Obama did not wear a headscarf during her visit on Jan. 27.

According to the Cable News Network (CNN), Saudi Arabia does not require, nor expect, foreign visitors to wear headscarves. This ultimately undermines the scandal surrounding Obama. Many other prominent women—including Princess Diana and former first lady Laura Bush—who visited Saudi Arabia in the past did not wear headscarves either and yet they were not criticized for their “violation” of Saudi Arabian custom.

The situation was reported to have had a severe backlash, yet according to Washington Post, the “Twitterstorm” of backlashes and critiques that used the hashtag #Michelle_Obama_Unveiled only had about 1,500 tweets even though Saudi Arabia has over five million Twitter users. In addition, most people who used the hashtag were actually mocking the situation, and most were not even Saudi Arabian.

Altogether, the dispute was simply a false claim that was over exaggerated by news sources. Instead of tackling other more important issues, they wasted time arguing about attire that caused an “outrage.” Michelle Obama’s decision to not wear a headscarf did not violate any regulations, ultimately revealing poor journalistic choices that did not properly cover the story.