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Stop Asking If I’m Hot in My Hijab
Your curiosity is offensive
I remember when I came to school wearing a hijab for the first time. A scarf, a simple piece of cloth wrapped around my head, caused people to react very strangely.
“Ermm, you look… kinda different.”
Yes, Sherlock, I’ve realized that too. When another classmate sits down in a ridiculous new puffy bomber jacket they bought from an after-Christmas sale, no one bombards them with questions and awkward looks and comments about how they “look different.” But when a Brown Muslim girl, now wearing a hijab, sits in her seat, it makes the whole class feel, look, and act awkward.
(And it’s not just White people who are less familiar with the hijab who are guilty of this. Brown Muslim boys whose mothers wear a hijab and Muslim girls who now also wear a hijab will comment and tease: “Oh, so you, like, wear a hijab now.”)
I get it. Change creates curiosity. When people see something different from what they’re used to or something they don’t understand, they want answers. But their curious questions cause me a lot of anxiety.
When you wear a piece of clothing that represents your religion and a stranger wants to talk about it, I anticipate the worst.
Summertime is the worst. Without fail, White friends will ask me, when the scorching sun is firing its rays on absolutely everyone, whether I’m hot in my hijab. Of course, I am. We all are! Whether I’m in my hijab or not! And I will be going home and taking the hijab off, just as you may go home and take off your shirt. As a matter of fact, I can’t wait to go home so the probing questions can come to a halt, for today at least.
There’s so much mental preparation involved in becoming a hijabi (a person who wears a hijab). So much fear and anxiety about being questioned by naive and uneducated people. The good thing is only a few people ever say anything to my face. But I always have to be prepared for those bold folks who can’t help but approach me to pose the questions that make my heart stop.
When you wear a piece of clothing that represents your religion or culture and a stranger wants to talk to you…
