Purdah Term Analysis

A traditional and conservative Islamic practice, purdah dictates that women inhabit the private, domestic sphere while men occupy the public. Hasina, maligned for her position as a “garment girl”—meaning she works outside the home in a garment factory alongside men—feels the need to inform her judgmental neighbor, Zainab, that she still proudly keeps purdah, meaning that her purity is very much intact. Mrs. Islam likewise brags to Nazneen, Razia, and the other female inhabitants of Tower Hamlets that she keeps purdah, but it is later discovered that this is a lie because she runs a money lending business that requires much mixing with men. The onus of keeping purdah is almost always on the women themselves, while men are freer to behave as they choose, highlighting how the religious practice can easily turn to sexism.