(In)visible Muslim Girls

Abstract

There are days I feel invisible, and days I wish I were. As a Brown Shia woman in hijab, I often feel as though people fail to see me, or do not care to. My experiences as a hijabi woman had me feeling simultaneously visible and invisible as those around me tried to decide which version of the Muslim girl I was—the oppressed Muslim girl who needed to be saved, the radical, or for those within my community, the good Muslim girl. The reality is I am none of these. In re/telling my stories, I explore how misrepresentations in the media made me question aspects of my identity and created feelings of (in)visibility, had me striving to be the model minority, and finally, how the hijab became a source of pride and a tool of resistance.