Hijab - My View
By Sultana Yusufali
I probably do not fit into the
preconceived notion of a "rebel." I have no visible tattoos and minimal
piercings. I do not possess a leather jacket. In fact, when most people
look at me, their first thought usually is something along the lines of
"oppressed female."
The brave individuals who have mustered
the courage to ask me about the way I dress usually have questions like:
"Do your parents make you wear that?" Or "Don't you find that really
unfair?"
A while back, a couple of girls in
Montreal were kicked out of school for dressing like I do. It seems
strange that a little piece of cloth would make for such controversy.
Perhaps the fear is that I am harbouring an Uzi underneath it. You never
can tell with those Muslim fundamentalists.
Of course, the issue at hand is more
than a mere piece of cloth. I am a Muslim woman who, like millions of
other Muslim women across the globe, chooses to wear the hijab. There
are many different ways to wear it, but in essence, what we do is cover
our entire bodies except for our hands and faces. If you're the kind of
person who has watched a lot of popular movies, you'd probably think of
harem girls and belly-dancers, women who are kept in seclusion except
for the private pleasure of their male masters. In the true Islamic
faith, nothing could be further from the truth. And the concept of the
hijab, contrary to popular opinion, is actually one of the most
fundamental aspects of female empowerment. When I cover myself, I make
it virtually impossible for people to judge me according to the way I
look. I cannot be categorized because of my attractiveness or lack
thereof. Compare this to life in today's society: We are constantly
sizing one another up on the basis of our clothing, jewellery, hair and
make-up. What kind of depth can there be in a world like this?
Yes, I have a body, a physical
manifestation upon this Earth. But it is the vessel of an intelligent
mind and a strong spirit. It is not for the beholder to leer at or to
use in advertisements to sell everything from beer to cars. Because of
the superficiality of the world in which we live, external appearances
are so stressed that the value of the individual counts for almost
nothing. It is a myth that women in today's society are liberated. What
kind of freedom can there be when a woman cannot walk down the street
without every aspect of her physical self being "checked out"? When I
wear the hijab I feel safe from all of this. I can rest assured that no
one is looking at me and making assumptions about my character from the
length of my skirt. There is a barrier between me and those who would
exploit me. I am first and foremost a human being, equal to any man, and
not vulnerable because of my sexuality. One of the saddest truths of our
time is the question of the beauty myth and female self-image. Reading
popular teenage magazines, you can instantly find out what kind of body
image is "in" or "out." And if you have the "wrong" body type, well,
then, you're just going to have to change it, aren't you? After all,
there is no way that you can be overweight and still be beautiful.
Look at any advertisement. Is a woman
being used to sell the product? How old is she? How attractive is she?
What is she wearing? More often than not, that woman will be no older
than her early 20s, taller, slimmer and more attractive than average,
dressed in skimpy clothing. Why do we allow ourselves to be manipulated
like this? Whether the '90s woman wishes to believe it or not, she is
being forced into a mould. She is being coerced into selling herself,
into compromising herself. This is why we have 13-year-old girls
sticking their fingers down their throats and overweight adolescents
hanging themselves .
When people ask me if I feel oppressed,
I can honestly say no. I made this decision out of my own free will. I
like the fact that I am taking control of the way other people perceive
me. I enjoy the fact that I don't give anyone anything to look at and
that I have released myself from the bondage of the swinging pendulum of
the fashion industry and other institutions that exploit females.
My body is my own business. Nobody can
tell me how I should look or whether or not I am beautiful. I know that
there is more to me than that. I am also able to say no comfortably when
people ask me if I feel as though my sexuality is being repressed. I
have taken control of my sexuality.
I am thankful I will never have to
suffer the fate of trying to lose/gain weight or trying to find the
exact lipstick shade that will go with my skin colour. I have made
choices about what my priorities are and these are not among them.
So next time you see me, don't look at
me sympathetically. I am not under duress or a male-worshipping female
captive from those barbarous Arabic deserts. I've been liberated. I am a
W O M A N.....Yes a MUSLIM WOMAN.
A True follower of Hadhrat Fatima Zahra (s.a.) & Hadhrat Zainab (s.a.).
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