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Pt1.
I removed my niqab & hijab the night I left home. I don't remember how I felt in those moments, running for my life.
I was in survival mode for many months that it was a long time before I realised that I was free. https://twitter.com/Omaymam_94/status/1247668478703632384
I removed my niqab & hijab the night I left home. I don't remember how I felt in those moments, running for my life.
I was in survival mode for many months that it was a long time before I realised that I was free. https://twitter.com/Omaymam_94/status/1247668478703632384
Pt 2.
I had spent more than a decade behind a wall of cloth, cut off from society. I didn't know how to dress beyond an abaya, long skirts and shirts. I felt as though everyone was staring at me, judging me.
I had spent more than a decade behind a wall of cloth, cut off from society. I didn't know how to dress beyond an abaya, long skirts and shirts. I felt as though everyone was staring at me, judging me.
Pt 3.
Those feelings of judgement came from years of seeing other girls in my community being bullied for not wearing their hijabs "correctly" or not dressing modestly enough, being told by my mother that I look like a whore & bringing dishonour on my family.
Those feelings of judgement came from years of seeing other girls in my community being bullied for not wearing their hijabs "correctly" or not dressing modestly enough, being told by my mother that I look like a whore & bringing dishonour on my family.
Pt 4.
There is an immense amount of pressure applied to Muslim women to be the perfect daughter, sister, wife & mother. They are told that their actions reflect on their family & their community. They are taught to police eachother & cut off those that are deemed to be immodest.
There is an immense amount of pressure applied to Muslim women to be the perfect daughter, sister, wife & mother. They are told that their actions reflect on their family & their community. They are taught to police eachother & cut off those that are deemed to be immodest.
Pt 5.
It took me a long time to realise that I don't have that pressure on me anymore.
That a piece of cloth only gave me "status" in a community that villified those that did not fit their ideals of virtue and honour.
It took me a long time to realise that I don't have that pressure on me anymore.
That a piece of cloth only gave me "status" in a community that villified those that did not fit their ideals of virtue and honour.
Pt 6.
My biggest transformation was not the removal of my hijab/niqab.
My biggest transformation is how I know now that my "virtue" and "honour" is not based in a cloth covering my face.
It is what I determine it to be.
My biggest transformation was not the removal of my hijab/niqab.
My biggest transformation is how I know now that my "virtue" and "honour" is not based in a cloth covering my face.
It is what I determine it to be.
