See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.
By Joanna DelBuono
Brooklyn Daily
We are women, we are strong and we don’t need to cover ourselves up in burkas. That is what the two Upper West Side artists that are encouraging women to put on the veil should be promoting: don’t wear it. Instead, these two numbskulls are saying they put it on as an experiment in tolerance. The item, headlined, “NYC women should give the hijab a try.”
In the Style section of the Daily News, artist Saks Afridi, who started the @DamnILookGood campaign with partner Qinza Najm said, “Here in New York, it’s very brave for a women to wear one out in public.”
Brave? Really? They think it is brave? Maybe they should see how brave it is to take it off in countries where wearing the hijab is mandatory and not up for a fashion statement.
The avant-garde campaign was launched at the Dumbo Arts Festival in September where hundreds of women put on the head covering and then posed for selfies (Why bother? You can’t tell who it is anyway). The niqab had #DamnILookGood printed on the front of it and women took the pictures then posted them on social media sites. What was so damn good looking about a black head and face scarf?
“A selfie suggests you are feeling confident and good about yourself,” Najm commented.
Really? How good do you feel if you have covered everything up except your eyes? How liberating is it to be hidden away from the world you live in? And aren’t selfies about individuality, not conformity? Wearing the niqab eliminates all individuality and only encourages conformity — and that stiffles a woman’s independence.
It’s amazing how here in America these artists can talk about how liberating and freeing wearing the hijab is. However, they fail to realize what it represents in other countries.
Wearing the burka was the law in Afghanistan when Taliban took over in 1996, and women were prohibited from singing, dancing, playing musical instruments, engaging in sports, employment, schooling, and even flying kites, an Afghan pastime. Only male physicians were allowed to practice in hospitals, but they were not allowed to treat or operate on women. And women could only travel in the trunks of taxis.
Women are not allowed the same rights and freedoms as the women in this country are allowed. Freedoms that Afridi and Najm enjoy daily, including the right to an education, the right to drive a car, the right to leave their homes, the right to medical attention.
So I don’t really think it’s a matter of choice for them.
Not for Nuthin, but maybe Afridi and Najm should take their #DamnILookGood campaign fashion statement to where wearing one is not a matter of a fashion choice, but a way of life. Let’s see how long before they want to come back here and experience what freedom, liberation, and looking good really means.
Follow me on Twitter @JDelBuono.