New York Artists' Niqab Hashtag Campaign Ignores Garment's Long History of Oppression by Phyllis Chesler Breitbart October 14, 2014 http://www.phyllis-chesler.com/1371/new-york-artists-niqab-hashtag-campaign-ignores Print Send RSS Share: Be the first of your friends to like this. Two Upper West side artists think New York women should try wearing face masks, also known as "niqab." Their names are Saks Afridi and Quinza Najm.  They are calling upon women to don black face masks and take a "selfie." The political art project began as a private experiment when Najm began wearing niqab (erroneously referred to as "hijab," which is just a headscarf) in her neighborhood; she encountered some hostile responses. "Go home!"   At that point, Najm decided that concealing her facial identity was an act of assertive liberation and a challenge to a presumably "tolerant" America. She launched a hashtag #DamniLookGood and asked other women, both Muslim and non-Muslim—men too—to don niqab as "an exercise in tolerance."     Some women who tried on the black niqab and close black head covering found it "sexy" to be concealed. Najm also points out that you can wear "crappy clothes" underneath and be very "comfortable." (Here she must be talking about a full body covering as well). The two artists claim, on their website, that a woman can "choose" to wear niqab and when she does she is "in complete control of her sexuality, and ultimately that's what makes her so beautiful."   » CONTINUE READING Related Topics:  Hijab & Burqa, Islamic Gender & Religious Apartheid

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