It surprises me how in the most liberal of feminist American spaces, there remains incredible discomfort — if not outright bigotry and discrimination — towards women who choose to wear a headscarf. As a Muslim woman who does not wear a headscarf and is often read as racially (and religiously) ambiguous, I’ve been around far too many self-proclaimed liberals and feminists who feel comfortable indulging their racism around me—commenting on how Muslim women are oppressed, naive, brainwashed, being beaten by scary brown and black men, and/or suffering from intense mind control by choosing to cover their hair. Other times, parents of white friends (or white friends themselves) will connect my lack of a headscarf to progressivism, labeling me as a “good” Muslim woman who is politically sharp enough not to adorn the hijab.Well I do adorn hijab. Almost every day. I cover most of my legs, arms, and try to wear loose clothing. The Qur’an requires men and women to wear hijab—or dress modestly—but does not specify exactly what covering up looks like. Muslims are not a monolith (surprise!) and therefore differ on what modesty requires, meaning that there are a variety of practices in different cultures and countries: for some, including my family, hijab means a headscarf, for others like myself, it means wanting to wear a headscarf but not feeling safe enough to do so in their home country. For others it means a style of dress that includes a niqab (face covering), abaya (loose black gown), or none of the above.
Source: Video of the Day: 100 Years of Hijab as Political Defiance


















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