10
Fashion
The Struggles of Muslim Fashion By Badriya abdullah
women have faced difficulties in
discriminated
their desire to dress how they c h o o s e . I n F e b r u a r y o f t h i s y e a r,
women and directed us to the number of French towns that had
the French Senate proposed the ‘Anti-Separatist Bill’, officially
banned burkinis in 2016, along with the slew of fines issued.
aiming to reinforce respect for s e c u l a r i s m i n F r a n c e . H o w e v e r,
Ye t , women
within those measures came the proposal to ban the wearing
choosing to dress modestly are contained within the
Cut
of religious symbols within a public setting for children
community without much outside s u p p o r t . N o r w a y ’s f e m a l e t e a m
to July 2021, and the European U n i o n ’s h i g h e s t c o u r t h a s r u l e d
under 18. These are the same measures applying for parents
for the European Handball Championship was recently fined
that employers can forbid visible symbols of religious and political
wishing to accompany children on school trips. Throughout the
for not wearing bikini bottoms during one of their matches,
beliefs. Suddenly it hits me: this i s n ’t a l e v e l p l a y i n g f i e l d a t a l l .
entire bill, there is no mention of any religion, seemingly not
which social
M u s l i m w o m e n ’s c l o t h i n g h a s been the subject of debate across
discriminating against anyone. Ye t , s o c i a l m e d i a r e a d b e t w e e n
amount of support. The singer P!nk even offered to pay the fine
t h e We s t f o r d e c a d e s , a n d y e t u n t i l t h i s y e a r, I w a s i n c r e d i b l y
the lines and outrage across all platforms.
flashed Ti k To k s
herself. But, the same courtesy does
ignorant of it. As a non-hijabi (a Muslim not yet wearing a hijab),
appeared with young girls wearing snapbacks and hoodies to
not extend to the normal women in hijabs, dropping off their
I know that whenever I choose to commit to the most visible
c o n c e a l t h e i r h a i r. Yo u n g w o m e n pointed out the hypocrisy of how
children at school. No one offers to pay the fines of the average
symbol of my faith I would be fully supported by my friends
the city of fashion can praise a silk headscarf on a runway
woman wanting to cover up on the beach instead of wearing
a n d f a m i l y. To t h o s e i n t h e E U , the government is increasingly
while shunning a hijabi on the street. Some pointed out how the
a s w i m s u i t . A s a s o c i e t y, w e embrace the idea of being free to
making that choice for them, and the answer is increasingly
age of consent to sex would be lower than the age to wear the
choose how we want to present ourselves, but for those who
becoming ‘No’. The recent
hijab in public. Others reminded u s o f h o w t h i s w o u l d n ’t b e t h e
choose to cover up, they find it increasingly difficult.
wear the hijab in French schools. The answer was simple: ‘All religious symbols are banned in French schools’. Not knowing a n y b e t t e r, a n d b e i n g t h e o n l y Muslim in my class, I thought nothing else of it. No religious symbols - it puts everyone on the same
playing
field,
right?
ruling
in
July
h a s n ’t b e e n t h e f i r s t t i m e M u s l i m
first
time
rules
about
the are
against
Muslim
struggles Muslim put through for
sparked outrage across media and an immense
clothing
Photo: Unsplash
In 2017, during a French lesson, I a s k e d w h y M u s l i m g i r l s c o u l d n ’t
