ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses a contextual analysis of Dutch political and legal debates concerning headscarves in order to gauge the extent to which these debates have been influenced by national constellations of citizenship. It explores how hegemonic gender-images and ideologies have influenced the Dutch debates. Cultural diversity was still seen as an enrichment to Dutch society, with Muslim women contributing as citizens, and hence creating space for their cultural practices to stimulate their integration. In European countries Muslim girls and women have also insisted on a public space for their own religious and cultural practices and identities. The chapter describes the legal debates and regulations along with a frame-analysis of the political debates about Muslim women's attire in the Netherlands. It explores an analysis of how cultural and religious diversity has been dealt with in the Netherlands, particularly in relation to gender.
