By Sanskriti Pandey:
Clothing has always been one of the most passionately debated topics in context of women’s freedom of choice. Consider a simple yet probably the most controversial items of clothing – the hijab. It has long been a subject of political discourse, but still never fails to kick up a storm in the debate around women’s liberation.
The hijab, many believe, is the epitome of oppression. But not many consider the obvious – Muslim women can think and choose for themselves. Not many are ready to even entertain the idea that the hijab might in fact be something that rejects the ideas that reduce women to commodity. Is hijab a talking point because “it resists the commercial imperatives that support consumer culture“? In this video, a woman explains how liberation lies in the choice. “By assuming that all veiled women are oppressed, we belittle the choice of those who want to wear it,” she says. Does the idea of the hijab as a symbol of oppression contradict the very feminist values it often tries to defend? Watch this video and tell us what you think.
