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The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between neo‐colonialist discourse and Quebec's proposed Bill 94 aimed at restricting the public activities of niqab and veil‐wearing Muslim women.

Drawing upon postcolonial feminist frames, this study critically analyzes the discourses of Muslim women and Western elites that serve to construct the niqab and veil‐wearing Muslim women. Using critical discourse analysis of digital and print media articles from 1994 to 2010, the authors trace the discursive character of the Muslim woman related to Bill 94 which proposes the banning of religious face coverings when seeking public services in the Province of Quebec, Canada.

This paper develops a postcolonial understanding of the discursive conditions that constitute the social environment in which Muslim women are required to operate in Quebec and the advent of Bill 94. The authors contend that the discourses in the construction of Muslim women have mutated over time towards Western cultural hegemony and paternalism, and, in the process, Muslim women have been constructed as oppressed, in need of saving, and at the same time not to be trusted.

The account of events in this paper offer an alternative lens in privileging some of the embedded beliefs and values behind dominant cultural accounts of Quebec in relation to Muslim women and Bill 94. Future scholars may wish to extend this study through examining discourses of secular, veil and niqab‐wearing Muslim women; newcomers, those living in Canada for a longer period and those born in Canada; as well as those from different countries of origin. Another area of research that is ripe for exploration is workplace experiences of Muslim women in Canada. Additionally, examination of overt and subtle discrimination faced by Muslim women would provide important insights into employment equity and human rights.

This paper presents a close look at public discourses around the niqab and Muslim women in Canada, demonstrating the persistence of colonial dynamics and mindsets influencing how issues regarding minority groups are evaluated today.

This study aims to identify the challenges of Muslim women in terms of their dress code in Western society by including their clothing needs in the strategies of the fashion industry and marketing. The study focuses on wardrobe choices that have helped overcome these challenges and facilitated Muslim women’s integration into western society.

Descriptive statistics were used in this study through a questionnaire that was distributed among 265 randomly selected Muslim women in London, UK. The results have been presented in charts showing the percentages and frequencies of the different behaviors and challenges that were faced by Muslim women in the west.

The majority of the study sample preferred to use a variety of modern fashion trends from global brands to integrate with the community. The essential criteria for the Muslim women’s clothing choices include head hair cover and conservative full-length clothes that are non-transparent that cover the neck and chest area.

A study has investigated the clothing needs and behaviors of Muslim women in the west for their community integration. It analyzed the results and linked them with the role and contributions of designers, producers and fashion marketers in accepting the western society of Muslims and their integration with its members.

This research aims to understand the determinants of consumers' behaviour and motivations to buy taboo items online. Two theoretical lenses, theories of psychological reactance and system justification, are invoked to frame the role of online shopping in shaping consumer behaviour in taboo markets.

A naturalistic inquiry paradigm was used to test a sample of 34 Saudi women who were buying taboo products online.

The determinant of such behaviour is based on differences in understanding the ritual restrictions between people, their society and their country. The four principal attitudes towards restrictions are justifying, accepting, rejecting and reacting. These attitudes frame five motivations: satisfying the restriction, to be unique, but aligned with social norms; breaking social norms; aligning one's self-image to liberal societies; and joy in challenging legal restrictions. The motives for online shopping are justification/utilitarian, to accommodate other restrictions in going to local markets; and reactance hedonic, to break restrictions. These motivations create seven different patterns of online shopping behaviour.

This research contributes to the literature by presenting an alternative perspective on online shopping motivations for taboo products. Furthermore, this research calls for a new socio-psychological theory for understanding the role of technology in influencing consumer behaviour in restrictive societies.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how Arab women managers construct their social identities through the meanings they ascribe to their clothing while pursuing managerial careers.

An interview‐based qualitative approach is adopted for describing the meanings that the United Arab Emirates national women managers give to their clothing.

This paper identifies multiple coexisting identities in Arab women pursuing managerial careers. While the contradiction is found in the identity as a woman and as a manager, the normative dimensions of identity formation such as being a Muslim and an Emirati serve as enhancing for women's gendered managerial identity.

The value of this paper is twofold: first, contributes to the knowledge of the topic of Arab women in management which is understudied in academia; second, it particularly sheds light how women managers meaningfully use symbols, such as dress, to construct and perform gender realities in a career context.

Western consumers are able to take shopping for granted, their major restriction being financial. This study aims to understand motivations to buy fashion items online in the culturally restrictive environment of Saudi Arabia, which imposes considerable fashion and behavioural restrictions, particularly on women.

Qualitative research was conducted with a sample of 34 Saudi women in their home country providing a deep insight into the restrictions that women face when shopping and how they react to these restrictions. Two theoretical lenses, psychological reactance and system justification theories are invoked to understand and explain consumer behaviour.

Motives for online shopping are quite different in a restrictive society. The definition of utilitarian motivations in online shopping is developed to reflect the drivers to overcome cultural restrictions or to align one’s shopping behaviour with them. Similarly, hedonic reasons for online purchases are expanded to incorporate nuances found only in such societies, where hedonic motivations include enjoying the breaking of societal restrictions.

This study is conducted is focussed on a country in which little academic marketing research has taken place due to considerable restrictions on movement and access. Western texts on consumer behaviour are not fully appropriate for understanding such a society.

The desire to find a new look of expressing the Muslim identity in society has led to a renewal of Muslim women’s interest in fashion. This allows fashion players to make trendy clothing and expand their business to meet the rising needs of Muslim women. Thus, this study aims to explore the concept of hijab fashion from the perspective of Islamic clothing retailers in Malaysia.

Data for this study were collected qualitatively using semi-structured interviews and analysed using a deductive thematic analysis.

This exploratory study describes hijab fashion as a representation of clothing for ideal contemporary Muslim women that enhances the beauty in Islamic outfits from the perspective of Islamic clothing retailers. Hijab fashion has emerged as a modern form of the modest dress code in accordance with Islamic guidelines representing the hijaber identity. It is not just a veil to cover the awrah but also represents the impression of fashionableness and modernity, reflecting the self-image, trendy style and personality representing the true ideal Muslim women, who are known as Muslimah.

The sample and findings are based exclusively on the perception of retailers directly involved in Malaysia’s Islamic fashion business.

The findings from this study benefit the fashion retailers, Islamic fashion industry players and policymakers by highlighting the importance of providing appropriate products and services concerning the growth of Muslim consumer market and their spending behaviour.

The findings offer a new perspective on the nature of the phenomenon of hijaber fashion as a symbol of the modern Muslim woman from the viewpoint of Islamic fashion practitioners.

This paper offers a critical discussion to contribute to sociological work by emphasizing deconstruction(s) of the markers of gendered and racialized borders and epistemological injustice(s) in theory and practice of contemporary global frames of representation and women's intersectional identities and rights. Through a postcolonial, situated feminist approach, the theoretical framework aims to scope and review literature from the South and North.

The research employs a mixed-methodology of a survey paper and media critical discourse analysis of media monitoring frames of Egyptian women's rights post–Arab spring. The content, layout and imageries produced by representations are assessed to explore whether there are lingering subtle and blatant hints of continued orientalism in knowledge canons.

The underlying causes for misconceptions and reductionist sociopolitical attitudes may be styled by patriarchal and orientalist imposition and are highly found to be somewhat maintained by persistent Western-centric epistemologies claiming to define or speak for the so-called other. The above-mentioned structures are evidently channelled through languages which essentialize and control women of the South, urging for further research in knowledge canons which calls oppressive frames into question.

More feminist contributions from non-Western gazes are needed to fill gaps in canons of knowledge and deconstruct patriarchal and colonial codes which impose inequalities on women as seen through the survey paper of theoretical representation and media politics.