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Why is the hijab considered oppressive but bikinis are not considered degrading?

First of all, I would like to say that I might have a background bias. I grew up in a Muslim country where hijabs are the norm, so it took me a while to wrap my head around the fact that covering just the nipples and the vagina is acceptable (pardon me if this description is too crude or inaccurate). I also do acknowledge that there are some cases where girls are pressured to wearing the hijab. But the same sort of social pressure or influence makes girls wear bikinis.

I do think that people should wear whatever they want. It's just that the fact that bikinis enjoy mass acceptance in the West while the hijab is considered a symbol of oppression confuses me. Please enlighten me on the question in the title. I'm not trying to troll (or score religious points - in fact, I haven't considered myself religious for a while but this still confuses me).

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Because reasons.
Original post by NoNickname
First of all, I would like to say that I might have a background bias. I grew up in a Muslim country where hijabs are the norm, so it took me a while to wrap my head around the fact that covering just the nipples and the vagina is acceptable (pardon me if this description is too crude or inaccurate). I also do acknowledge that there are some cases where girls are pressured to wearing the hijab. But the same sort of social pressure or influence makes girls wear bikinis.

I do think that people should wear whatever they want. It's just that the fact that bikinis enjoy mass acceptance in the West while the hijab is considered a symbol of oppression confuses me. Please enlighten me on the question in the title. I'm not trying to troll (or score religious points - in fact, I haven't considered myself religious for a while but this still confuses me).


please elaborate?
Reply 5
Saudi Arabia is an outlier in the Muslim world. Surely everyone knows this? Vast majority of the Muslim world doesn't punish women for not wearing hijab. Secondly, why would wearing hijab in, say, London be considered oppressive just because it's illegal not to wear one in Saudi Arabia? It doesn't make sense. Also, the word oppressive applied to the hijab in the title while the word degrading was applied to bikinis in the title. So your answer doesn't make sense on several counts. :s-smilie:
(edited 7 years ago)
Reply 6
Original post by study beats
please elaborate?
What should I explain?
Original post by Anonymous
Yeah let's talk about the UK


Because to be a Muslim women you HAVE to wear a hijab, no where in the UK are you forced to wear a bikini
Original post by Anonymous
Because to be a Muslim women you HAVE to wear a hijab, no where in the UK are you forced to wear a bikini


What about societal influences on wearing a bikini?

You're not Muslim without wearing hijab?
Reply 9
Original post by Anonymous
Because to be a Muslim women you HAVE to wear a hijab, no where in the UK are you forced to wear a bikini
What? So Muslims who don't wear hijab are not er... Muslims? What's happening here? Also, nowhere in the UK are you forced to wear anything.
Original post by Anonymous
What about societal influences on wearing a bikini?

You're not Muslim without wearing hijab?


Original post by NoNickname
What? So Muslims who don't wear hijab are not er... Muslims? What's happening here? Also, nowhere in the UK are you forced to wear anything.


If a Muslim women goes out into public not wearing a hijab then she is not following the rules of her religion, of course she may still class herself a Muslim but if she's not following what the Quran states then....?
Original post by Whilstingeye
If a Muslim women goes out into public not wearing a hijab then she is not following the rules of her religion, of course she may still class herself a Muslim but if she's not following what the Quran states then....?


She may not be following the religion. Where does the oppression follow?

Also what about those willing to wear the hijab? Are they oppressed?
Reply 12
Original post by Whilstingeye
If a Muslim women goes out into public not wearing a hijab then she is not following the rules of her religion, of course she may still class herself a Muslim but if she's not following what the Quran states then....?
Then what? It doesn't make her not Muslim, if that's what you have in mind.
Original post by Anonymous
She may not be following the religion. Where does the oppression follow?

Also what about those willing to wear the hijab? Are they oppressed?


Original post by NoNickname
Then what? It doesn't make her not Muslim, if that's what you have in mind.


The oppression follows due to the fact that she has to cover herself up to be 'truly' following the religion(whereas the male can have multiple wives and wear what he wants)
Original post by Anonymous
The oppression follows due to the fact that she has to cover herself up to be 'truly' following the religion(whereas the male can have multiple wives and wear what he wants)


With that logic is praying oppressive? What about not eating Kosher in Judaism? Or not eating beef as a Hindu?

You have to follow all these rules to truly follow that particular religion. Are these also offensive?
Even if a woman doesn't choose to have a hijaab, wants to drink, eat pork and wear a bikini, she can still be a Muslim in the eyes of God if she believes in a certain phrase (the 1st kalimah), but she may not be a good example of a Muslim, no.

It may be sen as oppressive just because it may seem that these women are 'forced' to wear these by family, husbands, etc (but usually, it is of the woman's own free will, for only the pleasure of God). Also, some may think that the hijaab, as it is covering up a woman's 'attractive' feature, then it may be restricting her to live and appear how she would like to - but again, it is most often her own choice to adopt the covering.
Original post by Anonymous
With that logic is praying oppressive? What about not eating Kosher in Judaism? Or not eating beef as a Hindu?

You have to follow all these rules to truly follow that particular religion. Are these also offensive?


Lol what? Yes you have to follow those rules to truly follow that religion, but that applies for both genders who follow that religion. If the male can have multiple wives and wear what he wants, whereas the women cannot, they are oppressed.
Original post by BrainyBengali
Even if a woman doesn't choose to have a hijaab, wants to drink, eat pork and wear a bikini, she can still be a Muslim in the eyes of God


Go read the Qu'ran because that is not true. Ever heard of the word 'haram', aka forbidden by Allah, so no, she can not be Muslim in the eyes of God
Original post by Anonymous
The oppression follows due to the fact that she has to cover herself up to be 'truly' following the religion(whereas the male can have multiple wives and wear what he wants)


Islamically men can't wear what they want either. They have to dress modestly and wear loose clothing with only certain parts of their body that is allowed to be on show as those parts will not attract the gaze of females.
(edited 7 years ago)
I'm not sure that you're comparing like with like. There's a difference between peer pressure, which is not unique to non-Muslims, and the kind of social pressures that enforce hijab, which come primarily from parents and extended family. The scale too is not comparable - outside of schools and universities and workplaces (places where one would expect peer pressure in any country), nobody really cares whether you wear a bikini or not - the attitude of 'society' is very much live and let live.

If what you're wondering about is why the average person has staggering double standards, that's more easily answered: they're parroting conventional wisdom and haven't spent much time thinking about most things they have an opinion on. The majority of people are a product of their surroundings and have few well-considered views of their own, preferring instead to absorb from those around them like a sponge. :tongue:

Original post by Anonymous

Also what about those willing to wear the hijab? Are they oppressed?


I think people misunderstand choice. There's a small but important distinction between a choice and a rule that you're happy to follow. Choice exists only when either course of action may be pursued without consequences (social or otherwise). So if someone willingly wore the hijab all her life and one day decided to take it off only to encounter stiff resistance from her parents, it would be accurate to say she never had a choice to begin with. She was simply happy to follow a rule that would apply regardless of what she thinks.

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