I Am Not Oppressed.

Since I'm already annoyed, I've decided I'd let out my anger in the form of a blog post, on a topic that really gets me heated.

Check this out: (click to enlarge)

It's a list of books featuring covers of girls donning Hijabs. That fact in itself is completely fine (yay for intercultural awareness!) but check out the list yourself, and scroll through the covers. Notice a pattern? Most of the girls are either wearing a Hijab (hair covering), Niqab (Hijab with face covering, but eyes show), or a Burqa (complete body covering) and are depicted as being despondent, miserable, and oppressed. Many, dare I say most, of the novels cover the topic of child marriage or something of the like, normally written by a Western author.

Look, I'm not going to deny that some parts of the Middle East treat women horribly, with no fear of consequences under their corrupt governments (ahem which were instilled by the US ahem). But I won't get too deep into politics; there are people far more well-versed in the matter than I will ever be. 

I am a Muslim, and I wear a Hijab. No, I wasn't forced to by my parents, neither do I feel confined by a piece of cloth. When I see books portraying Muslim women donning headscarves, I'm overjoyed. But when I see that

1. it's written by someone who clearly isn't from that part of the world
2. it talks of how oppressed girls are and how evil Muslim men are

I begin to have my doubts. There is nothing wrong with speaking out against disgusting actions, such as abuse, but when ALL books about Muslim women only discuss their utter misery behind their Hijabs, then we have a major problem. The deplorable things that occur in these Muslim countries are not as widespread as the media would make you think, and the image of a meek, submissive Muslim female does not represent all women.

The prominence of "Save Me!" Muslim women covers is only reinforcing the stereotype that we are in need of saving, that we are living in an environment where we are denied basic rights, that we are subjugated by our husbands/brothers/fathers etc. In reality, we are women, and we can stand up for ourselves.   

"I am oppressed" book covers | Source

^^Look at those exotic, kohl-lined eyes! So original! -_-

I am sick and tired of books that are supposedly meant to represent Muslims, but only succeed in making us feel alienated. Where are the books on how empowered wearing a scarf feels? Or about standing up to injustices under these so-called "Islamic" countries? Where are our Malalas?   

It's sickening how much this trope is focused on and how much other, equally important topics are ignored. Why did this begin to bother me only now, when the trope has been in use since the 90s? Two things: one, I stumbled across that Goodreads list, and two, an incident occurred on Twitter that really fired me up. 

A fellow book blogger, the very well-known Hafsah Faizal from IceyBooks, was harassed on Twitter only because her profile picture shows her wearing a Niqab.

Ignorance is fun!

More WTFery:

And this:

How to be a complete idiot 101:

Go Hafsah!

Whoever this guy is, he is undoubtedly an attention-seeking troll. But his "opinion" isn't so ridiculous for some; you'd be surprised the amount of people that would be nodding their head in agreement while reading these obnoxious and racist tweets. See, that is exactly the problem. The way Muslims are portrayed everywhere--in media, films, TV shows (hello, Tyrant), books-- all play a part in shaping the understanding of something the average Joe wouldn't have been exposed to otherwise.

I mean, seriously, can you think of one popular show/movie that actually tries to portray Muslims accurately instead of as a confining stereotype?

I do know that the abundance of "Save me!" Muslim women book covers do not heavily contribute to the negative opinion of Islam, but it does play a role. And as long as publishers continue to publish books on the generic "oppressed Muslim women" with the mandatory "I'm-crying-and-I'm-wearing-a-Hijab" cover, then this issue will never have a chance at dying out.    

We're more than headscarves. We're more than symbols of oppression. We deserve our place in literature, and not as the oppressed girls, but as human beings.