Veiled Intentions

Thursday, January 29, 2015

“Veiled Intentions: Don’t judge a muslim girl by her covering” Response Paper

            In trying to find more information about the writer I went to google search and I typed in “veiled intentions” to get a broad summary of Haydar’s life. For the date of publication I found out that “Vieled Intentions” was published in 2003 and the context of this text is that 9/11 happened a year before the publication. The controversy that surrounds this text may be one of fear that the United States has toward Muslim people. Haydar is a Muslim woman from Michigan, who works as a social worker in New York City. I find all this information https://dananicoleburns.wordpress.com/2014/02/19/haydar-nussbaum-essayedited/.

            Haydar claims that wearing a veil isn’t soley a “oppressive tool” she reveals how it is actually a sense of freedom that comes with it. She also states how in meeting boys she was not “wanted soley for [her] looks,” but rather she could be treated with respect and seen for the person that she was. She also claims how her religion, Islam, is not “backward thinking” (264) but rather it is a way of life for her people.

            One key strategy Haydar employs through her text is rebuttal against her audience. When discussing how there is a negative view on the way the “patriarchal” religion of Islam is imposing “oppressive” measures on the women she states that it is, “ a choice for women.” She quickly asserts and diminishes the prior way of thought her American audience had, which creates an open-minded atmosphere for the reader while he or she is reading.

            Another strategy she uses is her personal anecdotes and her personal narrative in why she does not see the veiling as a negative thing. Her upbringing as a little girl enabled her to choose if she wanted to undertake the veiling but she was not simply forced to by her parents. In describing her parents her mom and dad were opposites but they both believed to “Let there be no compulsion in religion” (2:256). Due to that understanding they fruitfully gave the opportunity to her to choose if she wanted to or not. However, in some cases some girls are not so lucky and are forced to veil. So to them they do not see the veiling ritual as a sense of freedom but rather a form of oppression.