Omnia Hegazy Research Paper

Omnia Hegazy is a twenty-four-year-old Muslim-American singer/songwriter. She started singing around age five. After she picked up the acoustic guitar, she discovered songwriting as a medium of self-expression. Now she doesn’t write about her own experiences; she writes about issues such as women’s rights and political freedom (Hegazy Bio). Omnia likes to not only fight for women’s rights by singing but also by what she wears. Most Muslim women wear a hijab in public. Most women believe that God commands women to wear hijabs in order to be modest. While most Muslim women wear it for religious reasons, other Muslim women choose to wear it to represent their culture (Abu-Jaber). Omnia may be a Muslim woman, but she doesn’t feel like she should …show more content…
Singing about women’s equality and dressing against her own culture must have been very difficult. It’s hard enough to stand up for what you believe in. Standing alone makes it even harder. Her reputation and the reputation of her family were both at risk (Moral Courage Channel). She thought it was worth the risk, and won’t give up her voice because so many girls are denied their own (Marrero). Many people were against her; sometimes even her friends. She has been asked to change her lyrics. She even once received an email saying she should “burn in hell for the rest of eternity”. Yet again she believes it is worth it. After concerts many Muslim women thank her for the lyrics of her songs because they also think what Omnia thinks, but they don’t have the guts to publicize it (Moral Courage Channel). Many of Omnia’s songs show how women are treated unfairly. Her song Aziza is about a girl who isn’t allowed to be independent. All of her schooling was wasted because she was forced into married, to be completely dependent on her husband, and stay at home to take care of their children. Omnia’s song Tough Love is about how women are abused by their husbands in order for men to feel more powerful. Another song Grace is about how together we all need to stand up and make a difference in this world. Change This Place is a song Omnia dedicated to the struggle for freedom worldwide (Hegazy