How I Came To Love The Veil Summary

Cultural misconceptions create complications that further lead to mistreatment of others. Yvonne Ridley is a British journalist that was captured by the Taliban after sneaking into Afghanistan after the terrorist attacks on the United States. Her captors let her go on a count that she would study Islam and read the Quran. She converted to Islam after returning home and started wearing a hijab, which is a religious head scarf. Ridley even experienced racism and cultural backlash in everyday society in her home country because she wears a hijab. In her self-written article How I Came to love the Veil she speaks about how western culture makes assumptions on Islamic culture that are completely false and the mistreatment of Muslims after the September 11th attacks. …show more content…
Many people see the religious headwear as signs of disrespect for some reason. “When I converted to Islam and began wearing a headscarf the repercussions were enormous. All I did was cover my head and hair – but I instantly became a second-class citizen.” (Ridley 447) After the September 11th attacks on the United States, Muslim culture and attire were seen as something negative and garnered unnecessary hatred. The hijab and niqab were changed from religious attire into symbols that promoted ridiculous amounts of racism. Ridley also states that the Italian politician Romano Prodi said that “it is common sense for women to not wear a niqab because it makes social relations more difficult.” Prodi’s statement is neglecting Islam’s own religious beliefs as a whole for the benefit of western