Hijab "art"

You know what really pisses me off? When people like Sarah Maple and Bunny alexander use hijab for “art”

I really don’t care if Sarah Maple is Muslim and comes from Turkish descent her crap is not art. I’m sorry but she doesn’t wear the hijab therefore she has no right to take pictures of herself wearing the hijab and sexualize it and then call it “liberating”.
Muslims felt mad when they saw that picture of the latex model wearing the hijab. Muslims girls got mad when they saw a Spanish woman running naked in a street demonstration with a Burka on. But shouldn’t those same Muslims reject Sarah Maple’s so called “Art”? That wasn’t the case about a year ago when she was endlessly praised for her “progressive feminist” take on Islam.

The fact that she is muslim doesn’t give her clearance to represent the hijab in her terms especially if she doesn’t even wear it. In terms of the hijab she is not different from any other woman who wears it no matter what religion or belief they come from. Many of her works contain very naked pictures and although it’s her body and her choice and I have no right to intervene with that, I believe I have a right to intervene when she dons the hijab for a few photos. She’s using it as a leverage and controversy to get peoples attention I don’t see anything any Muslim hijabi woman would appreciate about that.
“Oh look I’m so avant-garde with my plump lips bright red lipstick and cigarette in my mouth with a hijab on”. (This also)
What makes her so different from every other woman tumblr vilified for using the hijab for photo shoots. Why does this get to be labeled as feminism instead of appropriation? Why is it so modern for her to paint a picture of a hijabi with glossy red lips opening her mouth wide for a banana? This is downright sexualization and not liberation as many people see it. I’m sorry but what the hell is the point of her drawing a Muslim woman with a hijab on and her breasts out? And also you can’t represent salah the way you want if it’s going to disrespect islam.

This is not Hijab nor is it feminism it’s sexualization of a religious symbol. Just because she’s Muslim she still doesn’t have the right to wrongfully and sexually represent Muslim women. I don’t know what is up with the obsession these days to prove to Western culture that we have sex drives and that we function as normal human beings as well. If they already don’t know that then chances are this is not going to change their minds and frankly anyone who thought otherwise was being silly. You cannot hide behind feminism to completely alter the religious significance that hijab holds. My opinion of the hijab is not based on how I see it but how it actually is in islam. There is no need for this obsession with sexual expression for Muslim woman. That’s not to say that all Muslim women are sexually oppressed or should be but tying hijab to sexuality demeans the significance of it.

This also goes out to Bunny Alexander who was welcomed by the Muslim community on tumblr when she converted to islam. You see I wouldn’t have a problem with her except that she states that she decided to put on the hijab and then multiple times after that she said she never said she put it on. Don’t get me wrong if she put it on then took it off that’s her own business. But I’m making it my business now because she’s saying she never committed to it yet she puts it on to take several photo shoots of her with the hijab on to put on her modeling page besides all of her naked pictures. Her life, her nakedness I don’t care I can’t stress this enough. My problem is you can’t just decide to be muslim for a bit because you wanna take some cool pictures with the hijab and then after you’re done you go like “nope not feeling this anymore lolz”
It doesn’t work that way.

I know I’m stepping into dangerous territory when I speak up about these things because I’ve rarely seen anyone on tumblr ever do this. My aim and goal however is not to “slut-shame” these women. It’s to help people recognize that Islam and specifically hijab should not available to artists who want to use it to send a message especially if the way they’re using it disrespects it. We muslims shouldn’t tolerate this religious appropriation of our significant parts of Islam. If a women is struggling with the hijab and has pictures of her with and without it that’s fine. That’s none of my business and I understand it because it’s a genuine inner struggle. I would never speak out against that because there’s nothing to speak out about. However, I speak out when a person wants to use it for attention or as shock value because Islam and hijab should never be reduced to that.