iHeartHijab: 5 Reasons Why

Muslim Village Cartoon

First, my Top 5 Reasons I love hijab:

1) I will never have to see muffin tops, jelly rolls, cottage cheese or deadly "crack".

2) I really *can* live without knowing the exact color *and* fabric of your played-out-nobody-told-you-no-one-really-wears-those-anymore thong underwear.

3) The self-esteem of women and girls stays intact and is even boosted because we're not constantly comparing figures and shapes.

4) Men and women alike have no choice but to respect my mind for what it is, not what it's attached to. Ever hear the phrase "Hello, I'm up here?" from a busty girl whose words are barely rivaling her ample breasts for attention and floor space?

5) Because without it, I would truly be naked.

Dermologica

This list was inspired by the reply below that I orginally wrote to a guy commenting on the web who had nasty things to say about hijabis and who clearly had zero understanding of why we don our "protective gear":

'Actually it's a symbol of choice and free will. To us it means freedom from the oppression of being a sex symbol every day on the streets. We value every beautiful and seductive part of our bodies more than any diamond in the world and we protect them as such, or even more so, by proudly wearing our scarves and non-revealing clothes. When you're out in public, do you put your expensive jewelry or wads of money on display for everyone to see, touch,ogle, desire? We are worth so much more than that, and THAT is why we protect ourselves by refusing to be on display.

It's thoroughly degrading that you would assume we have no minds and are allowing ourselves to be subjected to something oppressive, like we're dumb and know no better when exactly the opposite is true. THAT, my friend, is oppressive.'

"A Different Perspective" (Aug 21st) Blog Post, Relive HipHop

What Does Your Future Look Like?

I was listening to a discussion on the Dave Ryan Show this morning about a lot of people's apparent discomfort watching Dick Clark on TV last year at New Year's following a stroke and it got me to thinkin'.

Why do we treat the elderly and/or disabled the way we do in this country? It doesn't seem to be this way  elsewhere around the world. Instead of being uncomfortable, we should be supportive & root for them. Maybe that's what keeping him/most of them alive- the audacity to keep going, to keep trying, even though the world seems to be against them. A world that is always encouraging them to just give up, to quit doing what they love to do and abandon what makes them happy. Would that not leave you frustrated and dissatisfied?

I say, Who are we? It's really not our place to judge. They are human just like we are, have goals and aspirations just like we do, have feelings, AND if we're lucky enough to get that far in life, the elderly most definitely represent our future. Having said that, we'd better hope our collective youth are not so hostile toward us when/IF we finally reach old age. As a society, we should be consciously teaching them to value their elders right now. From what I've seen, a strong example has been one of the best teachers- next to experience, of course.