#i've seen both arguments for and against the redesign from several muslim accounts

[bastart13]

What do you think about them changing Asra's mom's headdress/scarf style?

I wear I headscarf myself so it was nice to see the visual representation especially considering headscarves aren't exclusive just to us muslim women and many other cultures and religions wear them but I also understand why people would be confused about Asra cause at an extreme surface level look he seems "muslim coded" (tbh just arab coded but people get them mixed up) but drink alcohol and ect so could be kinda offensive.

But I think it should have kinda been obvious to people that he can't be muslim but is clearly Middle East inspired so it makes perfect sense why his mom is wearing a scarf like that. Like why are they interchanging the two. Especially in a game where real world religions don't look like the exist.

( Honestly, it wasn't even about representation for me mainly, I just really loved her character design 😂 )

I understand why it happened, but also why people would complain about it. Headscarves are often associated with Islam in modern culture and since there's no real world religions in the Arcana they felt it was safer to distance themselves from styles that covered her hair to avoid the rest of her outfit failing the other related modesty conventions. But as you note, headscarves aren't exclusively muslim and considering the deserts and temperature, the style made logical sense.

I guess it's the typical fantasy representation issues where you can be inspired by a culture without wanting to copy it whole, but it can come off as unrepresentitive or offensive because it isn't whole. Not even mentioning how the cultures aren't monoliths to start with and different people from the same group could praise or criticise it because people want different things from their media.

In the end, I don't think I have the most informed/important opinion on it. I'm not muslim and the muslim families I know don't wear headscarves so I don't have the best sense for the culture around them for such a nuanced character design discussion.