Hijab-wearing Muslim women must repeatedly justify their dress as compatible with American values

Evidence

Being approached in a public setting like the mall by a stranger shows how Muslim women’s bodies are subjected to constant surveillance. Not only are they watched, but they are also interrogated. Nazia is questioned about rejecting American values by wearing the hijab because the assumption is that she was forced to wear it. Nazia contests the belief that Muslim women have no agency regarding their bodies by explaining how she chose to wear the hijab after she migrated to the United States and never wore it in India. Nazia attempts to demonstrate that wearing the hijab is not an affront to Western values of freedom but rather reflects her free will as an American citizen. These interactions emotionally taxed Muslim women who wear the hijab with the responsibility of demonstrating that Islamic and American values are not in conflict with one another. — Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 283

Categorization

• XREF: The ‘taxed with the responsibility of demonstrating compatibility’ burden mirrors Beydoun’s account of Muslims being forced to prove belonging; also connects to the reader’s map of racialization as citizenship-testing.
• CANDY: The specific irony — an American immigrant choosing hijab precisely as an act of free will being accused of rejecting freedom — is a compact, conversation-worthy anecdote.