The Cut - My Hijab Has Always Been My Choice

When I started wearing a hijab at 14, my parents had no part of the decision. In my teenage rebellion, I wanted to make it known that my hijab was my choice and nobody’s business but my own, even if my mother didn’t wear one. In the hypersexualized and anti-Muslim climate of post-9/11 America, in which it became more socially acceptable to objectify women’s bodies than for a Muslim woman to cover in public, my hijab became a tool for self-empowerment.

I’m reminded of how significant it was for me as a teenage girl to make that choice when I think about the most recent attempt to ban the hijab in France. In a controversial move, the French Senate passed a bill earlier this month outlawing girls under 18 from wearing the hijab in public and their veiled mothers from accompanying them on school trips.

A man was caught at JFK International Airport trying to smuggle in over 30 live finches from Guyana so the birds could compete in singing competitions. Does Martin Scorsese know what nipple pasties are? No, he does not, but it was fun watching him guess. Paddington 2 has dethroned Citizen Kane as the most well-reviewed film of all time. We’re so happy that Prancer, the “haunted Victorian child” dog from the viral adoption ad, has found his forever home! In Louisiana, a lawmaker wanted to ban “divisive” teaching on race. Then he mentioned “the good” of slavery. Meanwhile, in Idaho, public schools are moving to ban critical race theory. In other news, this upstanding citizen is getting out of jail early. Cosmo’s sharing a first look at the new Gossip Girl and its very photogenic cast. And Wendy Williams seems to have lost her pants but is making it work.

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