One thing that struck me about the role of women in islam is how they are obligated to wear a hijab. A hijab is a piece of cloth used to cover a woman's head. This head piece is a way for men to control women. It can also be seen as a way of submitting men because they are admitting that beauty is a fault in their existence, it is missing. In order for men to be equal, they should reduce themselves as human beings, by covering one of the most important assets to women. Beauty is a form of expression that should be used by women to their advantage, not as something they should be ashamed of.

Perhaps people are going to start saying that the most important asset to women is her inner beauty. That may be true, but how many people really believe that? When I was a little girl, I looked up to princesses and to models. Not because of their personality, but because of how they looked. I wanted to feel glamorous, pretty, and good about myself.  How many days past when I felt horrible about myself because not even one boy liked me, or had a little crush on me. For a lot of people it might be easy to say that only personality counts, but one thing is to say it and another is to actually practice it. Whether people like it or not, physical appearance affects a person tremendously.

Part of being a woman, or girl is using makeup and being vain. There is nothing with wanting to feel beautiful. The main reason why women dress pretty, and do all these things is to feel confident and good about themselves. We don’t do this necessarily because we are asking for men to look at us in a certain way, but simply because a woman's self esteem is essential. What the quran does is take a part of women that they cannot replace. They require women to cover up their face, not letting them embrace what they have. What is so bad about feeling beautiful once in a while?

Also, with this belief of islam culture, where the quran says that women have to use this piece of cloth they are taking a human right from women, the freedom of expression. The way you dress reflects your  personality, and it is a way of expressing the kind of person you are. With the hijab or burqa this is very difficult to do, and a woman's personality is likely to be hidden under those extra pieces of cloth.

According to Ayesha, a women that one day decided to become a hijabi, it is unbearable to think that a woman’s importance is “rated according to their looks and the clothes she wears”. Studying and working on human rights and women empowerment opened her eyes to something now viewed by others. She realized that by doing what she does with the hijab on, can help change the vision of society towards Muslim women. It can help change the perspective of most people of “[their] lack of strength, passion and power.” Why power? Power to “strive for their own rights”. I believe that if you are in a culture where men abuse women, and the quran even states verses that underestimate women, and on top of that, you have to wear a piece of clothing over your head to not appeal to men…. this is what leads to the misconception of their lack of strength. Putting the hijab on is just proving society right, that women are a lower status than men in muslim culture.

The worst feeling of going out to Bogota’s streets is feeling petrified. Petrified. About what older men are thinking and maneuvering in their minds. I remember when I was about eight. My mom and I went for a walk. We stopped in a corner where we encountered a group of men. They started calling out many names, most of which I did not know the meaning of. But those I did understand, I took them as an insult. I started asking myself, what did we do to deserve this treatment? How do we let them do this? I walked back home reflecting on what had just happened. I felt insecure, as if all men were thinking these nasty things. We start feeling uncomfortable with ourselves, we start feeling objectified. As if men are looking down at us. Empowering themselves to be able to say whatever they want, and soon to do whatever they wish with us. This is a big issue, not only in my society but in whole world, the equality of men and women.

While learning about role of women in islam we read many novels reflecting on this culture. In A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini, expresses his thoughts about this dilemma through the character Nana. He asserts that just “like a compass” a man's “accusing finger always finds [a way to blame] a woman.” In a way society has started blaming it all on women. It’s our fault that we expose ourselves and that is why men objectify us. The way to solve the problem, and the solution in islamic culture is for women to hide themselves, to take away the few things that are left to be theirs. Only theirs. The decision whether or not a women wants to show her own beauty is in her hands.

In average, 54,410 women are raped in Colombia each year. Going further into this, 149 women are raped per day, or 6 women per hour. Having that said, these numbers are not even half of how many women get raped in Muslim culture.  Most of muslim countries: Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, etc. are in the list of countries that have the highest rape crime. So how does the hijab make any difference? If the hijab, as many people of islam say, makes men feel less tempted, and women feel less objectified, then how come muslim countries are still leading in the amount of rapes. Some women are being forced to wear something that is said to be for their good, but there is no results seen by this. Men still rape, still objectify women with a hijab or without one.

Sometimes people have to take matters into their own hands, and this is what women in islam should do. People have seen how the hijab only exist to reassure men they are stronger, that they have a bigger say in this culture, and that they are more important. It is time for women to stand up for themselves, do something about it. They have tried to enforce the hijab, making many wear it when they might not want to.

To end this I would like to ask each and everyone of you what do you do for society? Better yet, what did I do about the this? Absolutely nothing. And this is the problem the world has going on. We expect society to change from one day to another without even trying, without putting a little effort into it. How can we expect so much from the rest, when not even we can start by changing ourselves, as individuals. The hijab doesn’t educate men, so let’s start by educating them ourselves.

Citation

Hosseini, Khaled. A Thousand Splendid Suns. New York: Riverhead, 2007. Print.

"'Too Late for Me': Women Flee Colombia to Escape Sexualized Violence." 'Too Late for Me': Women Flee Colombia to Escape Sexualized Violence. Web. 24 Mar. 2015. .

Nusrat, Ayesha. "The Freedom of the Hijab." The New York Times. The New York Times, 13 July 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.

First Survey on the Prevalence of Sexual Violence Against Women in the Context of the Colombian Armed Conflict 2001-2009, Casa de la Mujer, 2011