writing_womans_lives_symposium_paper_book_v2

The hijab is viewed by Americans as a symbol of cultural difference (and thus
inferiority), a threat to secularity, or simply as a personal expression of religiosity‐ it
frames the female body as an icon of the “clash of civilization” and has far‐reaching
political and social implications. 3
What is problematic is that the female body is positioned to identify the difference in culture. As
a result, rather than creating an understanding for the hijab, the Muslim female body is structured as
an inferior. The “clash of civilizations” establishes the framework of the “us” and “them” dichotomy.
Therefore the distorted image of hijab creates a challenging experience for Muslim women.
Seeing a woman in hijab signifies for many the negative views of Islam. Rather than seeing a
person, the hijab represents misconceptions of Muslim women. The interviewees articulated this
perception. Explaining how hijab has impacted her daily interactions, Aziza states, “The hijab most
definitely had an impact on me. It gave people reason to judge me before I even spoke, so that
affected their attitudes toward me sometimes.” She felt that people made false assumptions about
her before getting to know her as a person. In a work environment, misunderstandings can be
especially challenging. Noor, who works for a news station and is a convert to Islam, had to deal with
lack of understanding from her co‐workers. She explains, that a close male co‐worker discontinued
talking to her after she decided to don the hijab. She recalls him telling her “I do not know if I can
speak to you anymore, you are a Muslim now and they are really strict and women can not talk to
men.” Not only did she feel that she was losing a friend on a personal level, but she was also
impacted, on a professional level. The nature of her job requires her to be in constant interaction
with her co‐workers. She had to sit him down and explain Islam to him and what hijab meant to her,
and how she will continue to wear hijab and still interact with men at work.
Misunderstandings about Muslim women affected not only their relationships at work, but also
how some perceived themselves. Some of the women changed their hijab style in order to fit in the
workplace. Ayesha, who works as an auditor and has been wearing the hijab for ten years, explained
to me how the treatment she received from others changed according to her type of covering.
Sitting with Ayesha I noticed that she wore a short‐sleeved shirt and a hijab barely covering her hair.
She explained, “I kind of decreased my hijab. But I am more comfortable with the shawl… If I go to a
client and I am wearing the hijab I can tell from their body language, they distance themselves. And I
do notice the difference between when I have the actual triangle scarf on as opposed to the shawl.”
Ayesha continued, telling me of a specific experience she had at work with hijab:
When I went to Cincinnati it was worse. My response to it changes. So when I was in
Cincinnati, the first day I was in full hijab and I had my pins up and looked really pretty and
I went to my first meeting and I did not get a good feeling. So the next day, I was wearing
my shawl, because you really got to go and assess the situations. That is what you got to
do.
Ayesha felt the need to alter her hijab to avoid feeling uncomfortable. Ayesha’s job requires her
to be in contact with clients, therefore her appearance is constantly judged. Although she still wears
a form of hijab, the shawl on her head shows a portion of her hair. It appears that if she reveals
more hair helps her construct a better relationship with her clients. Evidently harassment and
sensing others are not comfortable with hijab has caused some of the women to re‐define what hijab
means to their lives. Ayesha didn’t stop wearing hijab, and still wants to identify as Muslim.
However, she felt it is better if she changes her style to receive a different treatment from clients.
On the other hand, one of the women I interviewed discontinued wearing hijab. Her experience was
particularly interesting because she conducted her own experiment. Zainab had difficulty getting
hired, which she believes was a result of the hijab. Zainab who has experience working in medical
offices was applying for a job as a receptionist. She recalls,
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