As the only current male fashion Hijabi critic who neither wears Hijab nor knows how to put one on, I felt that it was my duty to say a little something about all the people hating on the Mipsters, Hijabipsters and the Hijabistas. These people, these haters, are known as the, "Haram Police,"or "islamo-popo," or my personal favorite, "the hamassholes."
Although the video received a lot of positive attention, you'll notice a small portion of "thumbs down," and the occasional comment about why having fun and expressing yourself will somehow take you to straight to hell. You also have small minded people discussing their own personal monolithic and possibly literalist of notions of what a "modest," woman should look and dress like.
Of course, this really isn't anything new. Anytime creative people in the Muslim community seek to express themselves, whether that be in hiphop, youtube videos, fashion, poetry etc, a vocal minority expresses their distaste and disapproval under the guise of a deeply misled moral indignation.
Muslims who seek to express themselves often run into a predicament— caught between a rock and a haram place.
On the one hand, you have a post 9/11 society and the perception, real or not, of the implicit and explicit threat(s) of discrimination, prejudice and stereotyping. On the other hand, you have the constant push and pull of salient fragments in the mosaic of the Islamic community that compel you to think or act a certain way. And, it's become pretty obvious that this push and pull affects you more deeply if you're a woman.
So, what's the solution?
On the one hand, you have a post 9/11 society and the perception, real or not, of the implicit and explicit threat(s) of discrimination, prejudice and stereotyping. On the other hand, you have the constant push and pull of salient fragments in the mosaic of the Islamic community that compel you to think or act a certain way. And, it's become pretty obvious that this push and pull affects you more deeply if you're a woman.
So, what's the solution?
Express yourself.
Allow yourself the freedom to say what you think, create what you want and to be criticized and scrutinized by whoever wishes to do so. This isn't a matter of the arbitrariness of prescribed notions of right and wrong. This is important. This has everything to do with learning, growth and progression.
Allow yourself the freedom to say what you think, create what you want and to be criticized and scrutinized by whoever wishes to do so. This isn't a matter of the arbitrariness of prescribed notions of right and wrong. This is important. This has everything to do with learning, growth and progression.
Of course there is an alternative.
You could remain silent, or worse, you could remain behind your safe little computer screen living your life as a critic never really knowing or understanding what it means to be the (wo)man in the arena.
And to be honest, I can't imagine a worse self-inflicted punishment.
You could remain silent, or worse, you could remain behind your safe little computer screen living your life as a critic never really knowing or understanding what it means to be the (wo)man in the arena.
And to be honest, I can't imagine a worse self-inflicted punishment.
All pictures in this blog were taken from http://modeststreetfashion.com/
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
-Theodore Roosevelt