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Where I come from we celebrate Carnaval, a 3 day lasting Roman Catholic festivity by origin, which takes place before a strict period of fasting as it is supposed to be the last opportunity to eat and drink lavishly. Nowadays, celebrating Carnaval constitutes dressing up like a cunt and behaving like a total whore for 3 days in a row, Burgundy style. Not my cup of tea (anymore). Anyway, when I was a little BNZL this meant that I could dress up and wear whatever I wanted and for as long as I can remember (and would allow myself to dress up) I would choose to wear the shinobi shozoku. I love ninjas. I've also always been a fan of hoodies, something I apparently inherited from my father. As a teenager I would even wear them inside, it drove my mum crazy. I love wearing them and looking at people wearing hoodies, especially girls. (It's a girl crush thing, in case you were wondering.) I'm also quite fond of the hajib, which in case you didn't already know is a type of head covering traditionally worn by Muslim women. I grew up with a lot of Maroccan and Turkish kids and their lovely mums always used to wear the most beautiful veils. Wikipedia says "The Arabic word 'Hajib' literally means curtain or cover (noun), based on the root حجب meaning "to cover, to veil, to shelter"." I was raised a Protestant Christian but do not consider myself to be bound to one specific religion, including Islam. In fact, I find beauty in all religions and I believe that we pretty much all believe in the same thing, but I also believe that Humankind Inc. (including atheists, agnostics etc) is heavily undermining the true foundation of it's faith by making a big deal out of who's "God" has the biggest you-know-what. AAANYWAY, the whole concept of instant privacy by covering your head and face (or identity if you will) in public or wherever you wish to I just find incredibly appealing. It feel safe, almost invisible. Also, I can not sleep when my face is not covered, so when I need to sleep in airplanes, public trains or any other public space I need to bring a scarf. So a while back when I finally had the money to buy American Apparel's Unisex Circle Scarf, I was over the freaking moon. I finally have the perfect scarf that keeps me perfectly warm and allows me to cover my head, face and, if the situation calls for it, turn it into a skirt, a dress or a top. Awesome! However, today I went shopping and as I was standing outside a store, wearing the scarf as seen in self-portrait below as I was cold, an older Muslim gentleman approached me and said to me "Young lady, you would look beautifull in a niqab." (a niqab is a face veil worn as part of the satorial hajib.) I smiled and said thanks (I guess??) and he laughed and walked off. I've walked around like this many times before and I never got any weird looks or remarks, at least not that I know of. But that man's remark made me think and suddenly something just didn't feel quite right. What if by wearing a short skirt and the scarf draped around my head this way with my my hair peeping out I'm offending women to whom this type of dress actually has a deeper religious meaning? Living in a city where eccentricity, individuality and expression of identity is no less than praised, I'm probably worrying too much but I am actually curious to find out if I do offend anyone by walking around like this...
Food for thought.