ICYMI, the word hoejabi is a portmanteau of ‘hoe’ and ‘hijabi’, a Muslim woman who wears a headscarf.
More often than not, it is used derogatorily to describe a woman who transgresses the rules of Islamic etiquette and behaviour.
While it’s mostly used as a slur or, to some, a joke, within the Muslim community, an opinion piece in the New York Times has given it mainstream traction.
Many weren’t happy with the account for several reasons.
In the article, a young Muslim woman wrote about her experience of having her sexuality prescribed to her; she’s either a virgin or wife.
She said that the term hoejabi is a positive self-identifying term for women who want to challenge that notion.
She admitted that the idea of a hoejabi subscribes to an orientalist view, pandering to the virgin/whore dichotomy; you can either be an oppressed, sexless woman or wildly sexual and untamable thing, probably belly dancing in the middle east somewhere, she added.
Whether or not the point of her article was to show that Muslim women have sexualities too, many felt that the term is already acknowledged as problematic within internal community dialogue and talking about it to a western audience may just fuel more Islamaphobia.
1000000% agree with this!! If you have an opportunity as a Muslim to write about Muslim issues and our community, rather share the positive things which are so rarely publicised and shed light on the things non-Muslims should know about our Deen! https://t.co/xZ8y6V0suC
— ZEE (@zeezstyle_) June 29, 2018
Writer Ruqaiaya wrote in response to the article, saying: ‘I don’t see a problem discussing Muslim issues in western mainstream media because I think it’s about time we tell our own stories and narratives but we should be selective about what we write about and how we frame things in an extremely Islamophobic climate.’
But she felt that a complex issue, like the slut-shaming nature of the word hoejabi, needs to be addressed and tackled internally. Putting it out for public scrutiny only validates those who have already negative views of Muslim women, she said.
Others complained that part of the problem is that Muslims, particularly women, are called on to speak about things that are problematic in the community and never the positive aspects.
Something like this furthers the endless cycle of discussion of difficulties faced by the group but does nothing to progress from there and humanise them, it was said.
https://twitter.com/FromCairoToBx/status/1012906232573825024
Some argued that shedding light on issues like this results in the normalisation of it.
What resulted with the article is a string of comments calling the writer a hoejabi, or just tweeting the word without context, while most of the Muslim commentators lamented having the word dissected in the mainstream.
One user replied saying: ‘Did you really think releasing an editorial on some stupid word most people didn’t use to begin with was going to prevent everyone from using it? Congrats. A large percentage of people didn’t even know it existed and now they do.’
Another said it doesn’t have to be this way, if Muslims are called on to speak on issues. Writer Hossam said: ‘If you find that western outlets are giving you opportunities many others don’t get from little to no effort on your part, especially as a Muslim woman, then you need to be cautious, be honest with yourself, don’t be too trusting of these institutions.’
He urged writers to scrutinise the kind of message the publication is trying to send out or adhere to.
And in the meantime, refrain from using the word, was the consensus.
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