Public schools in the Gulf states are segregated by gender starting from first grade. This segregation stems from religious imperative and social convention. Girls wear a school uniform at all public school levels and in Saudi Arabia they are also required to wear a black veil and a black gown (ʿabāya) from the age of twelve. The Saudi national religious curriculum reinforces the wearing of ḥijāb. In the other Gulf states, the Islamic studies curricula instruct students to wear modest clothes. It has been optional for women to wear ḥijāb to school and in public ever since a group of…