The Hijab
Westfield State University’s Month of Celebrating Women included a “Hijab for a Day” event. This unique event was put together by WSU students who are members of the Muslim Student Organization. The members of this organization presented students with, including myself, veils that would cover the head and chest. The hijab is generally worn by women of Muslim decent once they have reached puberty. They claim that the veil covering the head and neck represents modesty; this is significant because women are depicted as more of objects. When women wear their hijabs, others are able to focus on their abilities and intelligence rather than their appearance. The hijab creates a barrier preventing sexual atrophying and compels the world to center their attention on the personality of the women and de-emphasizes her physical beauty and re-roots her intellectual capabilities. The hijab is sentimental for those women who choose to wear them on a daily basis.
The hijab serves as a significant component in the history of women. There were times when the rights of the women who wore the hijab were tested. Different cultures viewed the wearing of a hijab as crazy and bizarre, because they were unaware of the circumstances to why they wear them. With more discussion for the reasons of wearing one have brought an understanding to the cultural meaning of the veil. The veil is significant to the month of celebrating women because it is a women’s right whether she wears a hijab or not. Traditional Muslim women claim that the hijab celebrates women because they show others the modesty, dignity, and humility that they solely represent. By experiencing what it is like to wear a hijab, women are able to see what kind of discrimination Muslim women face on a daily basis. In the near future, the hope is to end the discrimination against women who wish to wear the hijab. Currently people are becoming aware and understanding of the reasoning behind the wearing of the hijab, but educating others to become more aware is just as important. Some Muslim women wearing hijabs have not been so lucky; many are faced with being harassed, fined, intimidated, and arrested because their culture was once not understood by people from other cultures. |