Anisah, Islam

On Respect

“I hate men,”Anisah says. “You know what I mean?”

I can’t help laughing around her.

I hesitate before answering, because I sense that when she asks that, she’s really alluding to everything she needs to deal with. 

Like being tokenized with college friends as the “Muslim girl with the hijab” to being overly sexualized with male coworkers or on dating apps, or objectified because of her skin color.

In her early twenties, she is now in a space of change, as she takes off her hijab (she may want to return to it), meets up with her secret boyfriend, and is an IG makeup artist at night.

She bubbles over with energy and hilarity one minute and vapes to soothe her nerves the next.

She’s figuring out how to ride the waves to become fully heard and respected in her body, instead of being restrained or cut down by the judgements of the outside world.