The radical feminists at Ms. magazine are thrilled by a hip-hop mishap. It’s a video for a rap song that “makes a feminist statement” titled “Hijabi.” Women repeatedly chant “wrap my hijab, wrap my hijab, wrap my hijab.”
Somehow, there is no ideological or theological tension between the secular libertinism of the Ms. crowd and the Muslims who appear orthodox enough to hide their hair from anyone but their husband in the home.
Ms. intern Meliss Artiega explained:
“What that hair look like? Bet that hair look nice. Don’t that make you sweat? Don’t that feel too tight?”
The music video for Syrian Muslim-American poet and activist Mona Haydar’s rap song “Hijabi” shows how it feels to be questioned as a woman who wears a hijab.
Haydar’s song showcases how divergent—and empowered—Muslim women of color can be, and it calls out minority extremists who exist within her own religion and anyone who paints Muslims all the same.
“Make a feminist planet, women haters get banished,” Haydar remarks in the video—speaking to feminists and antifeminists alike. “Covered up or not don’t ever take us for granted.”
Haydar has been an ambassador of sorts, holding "Ask A Muslim" events to draw attention to the idea that Muslims are just normal Americans like you.
Univision's struggling Fusion network for millennials also promoted the rapper and her video:
