Hijab: The symbol of subjugation
I am in awe of the brave women of Iran who are finally standing up to this symbol of subjugation and control of women. When I lived in Pakistan, I saw what it did to girls who were made to wear it. They became more extreme, more quiet, more “obedient" and when one girl in school wore it out of free will, she had done that after she started to hang out with an ultra religious woman who used to tell her that if she didn’t cover her head, she was being a “bad Muslim" and that her parents were on the “wrong path”.
It is all about control and it is a symbol of where the person stands when it comes to their faith. The more extreme their views and interpretation, the more they will cover up and yet here in the West some people pretend that it is some innocent fashion choice. It’s got nothing to do with fashion. In my opinion, it is the first step towards more extremist views.
Women who wear it here, or are made to wear it and those who just defend it (even though they themselves will never live in a controlled and suffocating environment themselves) enable and appease extremism. They help do the work for extremism.
The Age of Enlightenment didn’t appear out of thin air. Here people were allowed to share their free thoughts or fought against a system which stopped them from voicing their opinions. Secularism is something that was fought hard for, but now we are so spoilt in the West that we bend over backwards to religious fanatics and say “hey? Does secularism not work with your extremist views? Oh no problem! We will just make way for religion a little bit more in our laws and systems just so that you don’t feel left out.” Secularism is the reason why The West is special. It is the reason why people risked their lives over the decades to get here, without it, we are nothing special.
Those who support this hijab should look at what religious fanatics bring, they should look at Iran and see what they appease.
I hope the Iranians are free of the mullahs and religious fanatics soon and I hope the rest of the world wakes up to the danger that religious extremism presents. It is not different than far left and far right.
