28 May 2012

The hijab has liberated me from society's expectations of women

.... The result has been refreshing. In a world as diverse and changing as our own, the hijab means a multitude of things to the many women who choose to wear it. I speak as a woman who just happens to come from the Islamic faith, and for me the hijab is political, feminist and empowering. This dimension is increasingly important for many women who choose to wear it; it's a shame it is understood by so few.

[A COMMENT] You can choose to wear it or not because you live in a modern, pluralist democracy. Most of your sisters in theocratic hellholes like Iran and Saudi have no choice at all. I don't really care how "empowering" you find it, it's still a symbol of female oppression in the vast majority of the world.

[ANOTHER COMMENT] Whatever the case, it doesn't really matter if what you look like doesn't really reflect the kind of person you are, whoever you encounter will already have made up their mind about you. It's politics alright, the politics of religious oppression. Don't try to pass it off as emancipation, because it convinces no one. [Guardian Cif] Read more