The Reasonably Prudent Law Student

Shabana describes herself as a lurker here, and left a very nice comment for me the other day. She said that as a hijab-wearing Muslim woman, she appreciates the fact that I use this blog in part to dispel baseless stereotypes about Islam.

To which I don’t really have anything to say, but I do have a picture.

This is me.

As you all know, I don’t wear hijab on a daily basis. I do, however, wear hijab when I go to the masjid, and I loop a scarf over my hair if I’m going to a gathering where I know I’ll see older Desi men, mostly as a sign of respect.

There’s not much substance to this post, just this: This is ONE of the faces of a modern American-Muslim woman. Some of us wear hijabs all the time. Some of us don’t wear hijabs ever. Some of us cover our hair sometimes.

Most of us do it because it’s our choice. Yes, there are women who are forced into it, unfortunately, which isn’t how it’s supposed to be. But again, most of us do this because we want to. We don’t feel oppressed. We don’t feel demeaned. We don’t feel particularly medieval or backwards.

We just cover our hair because we believe it is what we should do, and we want to.

For example, I would never, ever, ever go to the masjid or to my old Islamic school without wearing hijab, although no one could really stop me. All the so-called liberation in the world couldn’t get me to show up there with my hair showing.

There’s nothing threatening about this, is there? I’m certainly not forcing you to cover your hair. I certainly don’t care whether you do or not. This is just what I do.

I’m in a better position to say this because I do both. I observe the practice of hijab (in certain situations) and I also wear my hair down.

Those of you who know me personally know who I am. You know I’m loud. You know I love clothes and shoes. You know I love cupcakes and often can’t shut up about them. You know I love to tease and rag and rip on people. You know I can be sarcastic, and occasionally I work blue. You know I’m passionate about writing and that I’ve been playing around with graphic design for years. You know I love to wear big, dangly earrings and stilettos. You know I heart dogs and I have a really weird sense of humor. You know I’m in love with Hugh Laurie and Benjamin McKenzie and BJ Novak. You know I ramble and laugh and threaten to destroy people on a daily basis. You know all those different sides of me, and you know (I hope) that they remain intact even if I have a scarf looped around my neck and shoulders, protecting my hair from your gaze.

The next time you see a woman on the street with a tightly wrapped hijab, please remember: that’s only one of her faces. She has hair underneath, and she likes to let it down when you’re not around.