August 24, 2005
Stylin’ at IKEAReligion
Remember that ongoing battle between Sikh employees and the NY Metropolitan Transport Authority [see 1,2 ]? Basically the MTA wanted Sikhs to wear a logo on their turban identifying them as MTA employees so that no passenger would think the train/bus was being highjacked. Anyways, I thought of that story when I saw this on the DNSI blog:
IKEA’s new Edmonton branch contacted TheHijabShop.com to design and produce a ‘hijab’ - a Muslim headscarf - that would fit in with their current uniform.
When IKEA first approached TheHijabShop.com, their excited team was impressed that an internationally-acclaimed company like IKEA was making so much effort to accommodate Muslims in its workforce.
The challenge for the team was to create a hijab that had the IKEA branding; that was easy to put on without the need for pins - so avoiding any health and safety hazards; and that was something employees would feel comfortable wearing in a working environment, whether in the showroom or in the warehouse. It also had to be compact, without excess material flowing around, and meanwhile sticking to Islamic requirements. [Link]
Obviously I don’t see any similarity between the motivations of the NY MTA and that of IKEA. I mean nobody could be worried about terrorism at IKEA…right? No, I just think this is a clever marketing ploy. IKEA has stores in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the U.A.E. I wonder if the hijabs will be for employess worldwide or only in those countries. Are there other companies that make personalized “religious clothing” for their employees that anyone knows about? I bet you Abercrummy & Fitch will design some stylish hijabs for their employees next season. Not.
abhi on August 24, 2005 06:16 PM in Religion · T·r·a·c·k·b·a·c·k address · Direct link · Email post
this is just unbelievable...i wonder how loud the fuss would be if this was done to a jew's headwear (yamukha? sorry can't remember the name)
sometimes the world is just too stupid to deal w/.
Ikea's just a step ahead of the market. Very shrewd. The Toronto store also serves $1 dosas in their cafeteria - makes absolute business sense - they know their market - the immigrant population always has a good eye for value - of course the sang froid wouldnt fly anywhere else... quite frankly - Canada rocks... time to listen to sloan once again.
he..he...
Wow..that's some chutzpah. Branding religion. I knew marketers were looking for unorthodox advertising spaces but this is...........
up next - American bible-belt employees can wear crucifixes in IKEA's signature blue and yellow!
I'm torn. I don't know if I should barf or give them points for trying to be accommodating.
I'd give them gold stars for excellence in gracefully accomodating other cultural norms if the hijans didn't have the frikkin IKEA logo on the back. Small, crucial detail.
hijabs, I mean. typos will be the deth of me.
Rather thoughtful of them. What's the problem?
Branding on parts of a uniform is standard.
just interesting seeing the other responses so far. it never occurred to me the Ikea idea was disrespectful - not gratuitous rah-rah'ing - this was before I registered the store was in Edmonton.
to follow-up - here's an informal survey on people's gut reaction - when seeing this blog - the hypothesis to be disproved is that there is difference in perspective from either side of the border.
..................Gut-reaction on Ikea's move..
.............| Disrespectful.. | .. Accomodating
From Canada..| ......0 ........| ....... 1
From U.S.A...| .... 2.5 .......| ...... 0.5
Ok... this isnt looking pretty... but i think the idea comes across
Nah, I thought about it Deepa, and I don't have a problem with it afterall. At first my gripe was with the Ikea emblem being on the hijab. But then, I think as an employer or as an employee it would be good for customers to see that Ikea supports the religious freedoms of its employees, including the dress and/or customs accompanying.
Tell me about it. Disney would put their damn name on employee undergarments, except they don't want those items seen in "Guest Areas"...
Ok... I assumed M__, Cicatrix and desidancer were from the usa... Deepa, and you?
Here's the nos so far...
..................Gut-reaction on Ikea's move..
.............| Disrespectful.. | .. Accomodating
From Canada..| ......0 ........| ....... 1
From U.S.A...| .... 2.5 .......| ...... 0.5
I'm such a geek
U-S-A! U-S-A! :)
hmm Since hijabs also function as cultural apparel, I wonder what IKEA saris and achkans would look like. hehehe..
ikea can do whatever it wants, but i wish the public assumption wouldn't implicitly assume that a hijab is a necessary inference if one professes islam. it is a particular interpretation (this wouldn't be a big deal, but a lot of women who are hijabis simply state in a generic fashion that "islam says i have to do this," as if women who go uncovered are being unislamic rather than having a different opinion on this subject).
I wasn't around when that MTA thing happened - and the news links are all dead now - but did anyone actually say the NY MTA made Sikhs wear the logo to avoid fears of mistaken hijackings? All I see is the possibility being brought up by Newsday.
About IKEA, it's more tacky than anything. I don't see the hijab as being a symbol of faith, just as cultural clothing. The logo might actually be useful if the hijab covers up the 'IKEA' on those corny polo shirts they wear.
I just want to know when my local IKEA is going to start serving dosai for a dollar.
It's only in Elizabeth, New Jersey, one of the most heavily desi-populated states...
Just to clarify, I do not assume the hijab is necessary, I just think it's nice of IKEA to provide one if it's wanted. Probably safer to wear these than ones from home.
up next - American bible-belt employees can wear crucifixes in IKEA's signature blue and yellow!
Props, cicatrix, for being a consistent enough lefty to see that this is really what we're talking about.
Any ostensible secular leftist who cheers this on is only looking at the thin end of the wedge. Sharia is more of a threat than Christian dominionism; every seemingly innocuous inch that we grant Islam *always* becomes a mile. Watch for coercion to follow as the males of these communities force the women to obey sharia everywhere now that we've told them they can "opt out" of modernity in the middle of Western Civ. This is bad news.
then Sikhs in the Indian army, and the RCMP get turbans of specific colors... btw I;m surprised to hear about the MTA brouhaha - I am fairly certain Sikh generals, policemen etc wear ribbons, symbols on their turban indicating their rank - basically using the turban the same way a cap would be used...
what else...
hmmm...
here's a stretch - a fair number of countries with secular credentials have religious flavor to their flags - Eng, India, ...
Put 1 American down for "accommodating."
And after seeing girls in hijab with ARMANI plastered all over it (probably just a big scarf altered or worn strategically), I don't have problems with the logo. It is part of a corporate uniform, after all - and depending on its length and the height of the girl, the hijab might likely cover other areas that a logo would be worn (front left chest area, usually.)
Are there other companies that make personalized religious clothing for their employees that anyone knows about?
Malaysian Airlines, I believe... Actually, Garuda does also... And then, well, there's the Catholic Church... Really, it's not so odd, doesn't the Taj Group give Sikhs turbans that match their uniforms?
(Canada)
I don't see this as disrespectful at all. It's not dissimilar from the Official Sikh Mountie Turban.
Maderchod wrote
i wonder how loud the fuss would be if this was done to a jew's headwear
I had a friend with Kermit the frog on his yarmulke. (And he was 17! Maybe not sacreligious, but certainly dorky. Do you go to hell for that?)
You could have also called it Abercrummy and Filth ...
log me as Accommodating in America, dhaavak ;)
I had a friend with Kermit the frog on his yarmulke. (And he was 17! Maybe not sacreligious, but certainly dorky. Do you go to hell for that?)
no way! the muppets rule! it would've been better if the Swedish Chef was on there.
breaking news...
the results are in. the hypothesis was disproved. we're all the same - either side of the border...
.......... diss.... accom
&........... 0 ..... 2
*|.......... 2 ..... 2
on a bad note - heard of a hate crime in the neighborhood.
The thing is, there's a difference with the Sikh analogy. As far as I know, the first case was in the UK - the law was changed so that Sikhs did not have to wear motorcycle helmets, after widespread protest in the 70s (those of you from the States, not sure if you are aware of what it was really like for British Asians back then). This then led to the Sikh British Police Turban - a black and white check turban, somewhat similar to the turbans worn in the Indian army.
The point I'm making is that all these examples are ones where head gear is ESSENTIAL - it's part of the uniform. Hence allowances had to be made.
Now I'm not saying I'm against this hijab at all, it's up to the woman herself of course. I just think it's looks hilarious. Perhaps if you worked for Armani it'd be cool, but working for IKEA with that on your back, you look like a dork.
Up next - Nike swoosh bindis?
I think most of you are reading too much into this. I actually commend Ikea's effort to accommodate the Islamic population of its employees. In a society where they are being judged for their way of being, Ikea is trying to make their employees feel more comfortable about wearing a hijab to work--This effort to make uniform hijabs says to people "Hey, it's okay to wear one and we support it!".
From CBC News:
I strongly support Sikhs' religious rights. But with motorcycle helmets and hardhats, even after legal victory Sikh men are taking significant personal risk in not wearing those brainium shields.
Its an example of protest for the sake of it - agitation for the sake of it - its stupid - they can wear patka's underneath the helmet - no problemo - millions of Sikhs do it every day when they need to work in that kind of place or do sport - its activism and protest for the sake of it.
As much as this might anger GC... I like this idea!! Props to IKEA for being considerate. (well the color combo/logo might be a bit painful...but it's the thought that counts)
While hijab is an extremely personal and powerful statement for the ladies who do observe it, it's just an extra article of clothing to an employer like IKEA...a very visible and prominant article at that. If an employer can provide a tshirt, personally, I don't see a problem in providing other articles of clothing.
'Madarchod' - no chance of a slightly less offensive name in the future, eh?