“I’m looking forward to a time where I would be seen as more than the Hijab that I wear on my head” A Canadian University student

For girls, everything is how you are dressed and, you know, like wearing loose clothing has never been really “in.” And, you know, in high school girls want to show off their bodies, show off their curves, and you’re automatically different as soon as you walk in and you’re fully covered.

“I’m not what you think I am.” You know, I’m not an idiot, and I can speak English. I’m actually very highly educated... Yeah, I feel very much on the defense. There are even people – Muslims – who say to me, “Why do you wear the hijab?” And there have been family friends who have said it to me, “Sure dress modestly but why... why bother [with hijab]?” There’s always been the questioning.

People will sometimes randomly ask me about the Palestine-Israel situation. It feels strange. And they’ll be like, “Oh, do you support suicide bombing?” I’ve had that question before and it’s very, very awkward. Why would you ask someone that? It comes up on a fairly regular basis. You’d be surprised! People automatically think: “Oh, she’s Muslim, clearly she wants to blow herself up.”… It’s so frustrating. I was born in Canada!!

Why should there be an “us” versus a “them”? Why should there be the categories of non-Muslims versus Muslims?

I think as a Muslim, my opinion is that I have become very defensive about being a Muslim because I feel like we’ve been attacked so many times on a personal level and on an international level because of the political state that continues to go on. So, I think for me, I feel very defensive and sometimes I feel very attacked by non- Muslims.

-When we first met the principal he told us: “Oh, you’re going to have to take off your hijab because people might not accept it”... and so on... “because we’ve never had hijab before in this school.” -And then he said: “The reason I’m saying to take off your hijab is just so that you guys will feel comfortable. No one will harass you.” -But I was like: “Don’t worry about it, we can handle ourselves.”

Teachers for the most part were very, very understanding but... it’s funny because often you’re not sure whether you want people to be accommodating of your religion and your race or whether you want them to just sort of treat it as another fact about you and move on. I think I like it sometimes if people just accept it and move on and don’t necessarily treat me differently.

Dr Diane Watt on her PHD Dissertation on Sense of Identity of Young Muslim Women in North America (Post 9/11 Ontario, Canada)