Something I’ve noticed in passing before but noticed more slowly this time: referring to people as “hijabis”. It was in a Twitter exchange between Adele Wilde-Blavatsky and someone I don’t know.
Nick Nipclose @NickNipclose
Criticism of hijab is irrelevant: event was opposing harassment of hijabis not arguing that hijab is flawless
Adele Wilde-Blavatsk @lionfacedakini
but in promoting the event many equated the hijab with the hoodie and symbolically it appeared that way too
Nick Nipclose @NickNipclose
I’m not comparing murders, it could be sad that harassing a hijabi is worse than bothering a hoody clad kid1/2
It struck me more forcibly than it had before what a horrible way to refer to a person or set of people that is. It’s so dehumanizing. She’s not a person, she’s the thing she wears to conceal her head because her religion treats it as an “obligation.”
It’s obvious that the guy doing it sees it as a particularly respectful way of talking, but it isn’t.