I feel a bit liberated wearing the hijab lately

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I moved to a new state recently and decided to start wearing a hijab (covering my hair). When you think of the hijab, you probably don’t think “political”. Or “independent”. Or “empowered”. Feminist? In a society where our value seems to be based on looks I think covering your hair and dressing modest can be an alterative to avoid this. Woman/sex combination is everywhere.. especially instagram.. it's like soft porn. Everywhere it seems there are ads for enhancing your ass... and lots of people have become obsessed with taking photos of themselves.. Wearing hijab is not the only way to express my feelings and frustrations; but knowing that our interpretation of liberal culture embraces, if not encourages, uncovering, covering up is a way to reject that. I do not believe that the hair in itself is that important; this is not about protection from men’s lusts. It is me telling the world that my femininity is not available for public consumption. I am taking control of it, and I don’t want to be part of a system that reduces and demeans women. I really believe that a non-Muslim woman could do this if she chose to. I know longer worry about face wrinkles on my forehead because the scarf covers them or my hair as much. I still color my hair and get haircuts but I don't worry about styling it everyday. I speak as a woman who just happens to come from the Islamic faith. I also noticed I worry less about my clothing.

Wow please find your brain

No non Muslim
Woman is going this and for gods sake no man is deciding what we wear.

Your take on this is immature at best

I absolutely respect your choices you do you but don’t make it out like wearing this item is fun.

Yet wearing slutty clothes doesn't make someone immature.. Okay.. Some African women wear wigs..some cover their hair.. Op is deciding what she wears not her husband. Frankly I think some women need help figuring out what's appropriate.. Nails that look like animals.. Fake eyelashes.. Men don't like that... Those people look very strange and it's expensive to do all of those things... Lots go into debt

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I moved to a new state recently and decided to start wearing a hijab (covering my hair). When you think of the hijab, you probably don’t think “political”. Or “independent”. Or “empowered”. Feminist? In a society where our value seems to be based on looks I think covering your hair and dressing modest can be an alterative to avoid this. Woman/sex combination is everywhere.. especially instagram.. it's like soft porn. Everywhere it seems there are ads for enhancing your ass... and lots of people have become obsessed with taking photos of themselves.. Wearing hijab is not the only way to express my feelings and frustrations; but knowing that our interpretation of liberal culture embraces, if not encourages, uncovering, covering up is a way to reject that. I do not believe that the hair in itself is that important; this is not about protection from men’s lusts. It is me telling the world that my femininity is not available for public consumption. I am taking control of it, and I don’t want to be part of a system that reduces and demeans women. I really believe that a non-Muslim woman could do this if she chose to. I know longer worry about face wrinkles on my forehead because the scarf covers them or my hair as much. I still color my hair and get haircuts but I don't worry about styling it everyday. I speak as a woman who just happens to come from the Islamic faith. I also noticed I worry less about my clothing.

Wow please find your brain

No non Muslim
Woman is going this and for gods sake no man is deciding what we wear.

Your take on this is immature at best

I absolutely respect your choices you do you but don’t make it out like wearing this item is fun.

Yet wearing slutty clothes doesn't make someone immature.. Okay.. Some African women wear wigs..some cover their hair.. Op is deciding what she wears not her husband. Frankly I think some women need help figuring out what's appropriate.. Nails that look like animals.. Fake eyelashes.. Men don't like that... Those people look very strange and it's expensive to do all of those things... Lots go into debt

No woman in my circles wears slutty clothes. Stop it. If we are defending her right to cover her hair, stop equating our clothing choices with being slutty. ALso, in case you haven't noticed, plenty of women who wear a hijab wear a ton of makeup, fake eyelashes and get their nails done. Go figure.

Also, my husband LOVES my long, red nails. If you want to look like a slob, more power to you. I will not be slut shamed into covering myself needlessly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:how on earth does a hijab make you "feel liberated". Please explain. in detali

Anonymous wrote:It deflects the male gaze.

+1 she just did explain it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP. I think OP is part of a concerted effort to get western women to adopt hijab. Similar posts have been flooding TikTok and Instagram. They tend to feature western women supposedly trying hijab and liking it. I don’t buy that this is just an accident. There’s been enough quasi-identical posts on social media that it’s raising suspicions.

I think you got it.

[Anonymous]

Everyone has an agenda.

Even this thread started by the OP -- a sheep in wolf's clothing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone has an agenda.

Even this thread started by the OP -- a sheep in wolf's clothing

And looks like yours is be mean-spirited.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I moved to a new state recently and decided to start wearing a hijab (covering my hair). When you think of the hijab, you probably don’t think “political”. Or “independent”. Or “empowered”. Feminist? In a society where our value seems to be based on looks I think covering your hair and dressing modest can be an alterative to avoid this. Woman/sex combination is everywhere.. especially instagram.. it's like soft porn. Everywhere it seems there are ads for enhancing your ass... and lots of people have become obsessed with taking photos of themselves.. Wearing hijab is not the only way to express my feelings and frustrations; but knowing that our interpretation of liberal culture embraces, if not encourages, uncovering, covering up is a way to reject that. I do not believe that the hair in itself is that important; this is not about protection from men’s lusts. It is me telling the world that my femininity is not available for public consumption. I am taking control of it, and I don’t want to be part of a system that reduces and demeans women. I really believe that a non-Muslim woman could do this if she chose to. I know longer worry about face wrinkles on my forehead because the scarf covers them or my hair as much. I still color my hair and get haircuts but I don't worry about styling it everyday. I speak as a woman who just happens to come from the Islamic faith. I also noticed I worry less about my clothing.

This is more liberating

[Anonymous]

As a Muslim woman, I find this post so creepy.

[Anonymous]

It was not very long ago in western culture that it was the norm for women to wear their hair up and ‘controlled’ and to never show it down and natural except in the presence of siblings, parents and eventually husbands.

Yes some religions as manifest in some communities and countries are more repressive and controlling of women’s bodies - the hijab is liberating nobody in Iran.

But frankly these controls of women’s bodies are very much present in our so-called liberal American society, where women in much of the country have lost the right to reproductive healthcare without asking permission from men who are strangers and not even medical professionals.

Sure maybe American women are free to slut it up as much as they want in how they present their bodies to the public sphere, but American women aren’t actually free in the absence of bodily autonomy. We cannot be smug about our experience of womanhood.

[Anonymous]

There are many ways to dress modestly. A hijab is even more conservative. You do you but thankfully we live in a country where we can dress how we want and many choose to celebrate that in their way.

[Anonymous]

.... It is me telling the world that my femininity is not available for public consumption. I am taking control of it, and I don’t want to be part of a system that reduces and demeans women. I really believe that a non-Muslim woman could do this if she chose to. I know longer worry about face wrinkles on my forehead because the scarf covers them or my hair as much. ...

I fully support your right to chose how you present yourself in public. Presenting yourself in a way that makes you feel comfortable and in control is very empowering!

I disagree, though, that wearing hijab removes you from being part of a system that reduces and demeans women. Unless you remove yourself from society completely, you, and everyone you know, live in a world where there is systemic oppression of women. As far as physical presentation goes, I learned a long time ago that no matter what a woman/girl wears, no matter how covered, we cannot 'protect' ourselves from the male gaze - or even the female gaze because women can be just as bad as men. I experienced this while wearing hijab/covering in Pakistan, Central Asia, Indonesia, etc. My DD has experienced even as a pre-teen no matter how modestly she dresses.

I'm nearly 60 and don't worry about my wrinkles, sunspots, saggy neck or bad hair - not because I've covered them with clothing or makeup but because I know who I am and my value. My 'femininity' is not my exterior. Feminity is my interior. No matter how I present physically, with/without hijab, with/without makeup, nice clothing/sweats, etc, people will make judgments about me. But, they don't know me unless I allow them to. That doesn't change with what I wear. That you no longer worry about wrinkles/hair because your hijab covers them is an indication that you have yet to find your internal power and are relying on the hijab for that. Again, I'm glad you found empowerment and hope you continue on your journey exploring it. Thanks for sharing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

.... It is me telling the world that my femininity is not available for public consumption. I am taking control of it, and I don’t want to be part of a system that reduces and demeans women. I really believe that a non-Muslim woman could do this if she chose to. I know longer worry about face wrinkles on my forehead because the scarf covers them or my hair as much. ...

I fully support your right to chose how you present yourself in public. Presenting yourself in a way that makes you feel comfortable and in control is very empowering!

I disagree, though, that wearing hijab removes you from being part of a system that reduces and demeans women. Unless you remove yourself from society completely, you, and everyone you know, live in a world where there is systemic oppression of women. As far as physical presentation goes, I learned a long time ago that no matter what a woman/girl wears, no matter how covered, we cannot 'protect' ourselves from the male gaze - or even the female gaze because women can be just as bad as men. I experienced this while wearing hijab/covering in Pakistan, Central Asia, Indonesia, etc. My DD has experienced even as a pre-teen no matter how modestly she dresses.

I'm nearly 60 and don't worry about my wrinkles, sunspots, saggy neck or bad hair - not because I've covered them with clothing or makeup but because I know who I am and my value. My 'femininity' is not my exterior. Feminity is my interior. No matter how I present physically, with/without hijab, with/without makeup, nice clothing/sweats, etc, people will make judgments about me. But, they don't know me unless I allow them to. That doesn't change with what I wear. That you no longer worry about wrinkles/hair because your hijab covers them is an indication that you have yet to find your internal power and are relying on the hijab for that. Again, I'm glad you found empowerment and hope you continue on your journey exploring it. Thanks for sharing.

I disagree unless looking like a slop in public means empowerment to you. She's choosing not to put time into those things at least part-time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:how on earth does a hijab make you "feel liberated". Please explain. in detali

Anonymous wrote:It deflects the male gaze.

+1 she just did explain it.

Please, OP is a troll, if she were serious about averting the male gaze she would shave her head.

[Anonymous]

I don’t agree that hiding wrinkled or messy or gray hair under a hijab (or make up) is freeing. It would be freeing if society valued wrinkles and gray hair on women. We can start that right now by wearing them proudly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:how on earth does a hijab make you "feel liberated". Please explain. in detali

It deflects the male gaze.

Yes. It signifies that women are responsible for curbing mens' appetites.