Being Seen as Religious

In a photovoice project with Muslim and Christian university students, Muslim women said that at the beginning of the semester they would arrive early to class in order to sit at the back of the room. Wearing an hijab was an important part of their religious identity and practice yet they were conscious of being part of a visible religious minority on their secular campus. They were also a racialized minority and thus were doubly visible. Sitting in the shadows and keeping to themselves was a strategy to avoid the gaze of others - non-Muslims who questioned their choices, many of whom assumed they were forced to wear the hijab by the domineering men in their families. They planned their days on campus with the intention of not being seen. 

Photo 1. Young girl wearing a tiny witches’ hat atop her hijab as she celebrates Halloween.

The photovoice project focused on building interfaith engagement and understanding between Christian and Muslim students. The Muslim women were more likely than their Christian counterparts to share pictures of themselves, often in settings that emphasized their hybrid identities. Widad shared an image of her children dressed up for Halloween with her daughter wearing a tiny witches’ hat atop her hijab, to illustrate how they embrace new cultural traditions while remaining true to their own. In describing a photo of two hijabi women splashing and laughing in a pool, Salsabel wrote, “My clothes are not preventing me from the joy of swimming outside and being in nature.” In both of these examples, the images of hijabi women are playful and fun – countering negative stereotypes of Muslim women. 

Photo 2. Salsabel and her friend splashing and laughing in a pool.

Over a period of five weeks, the Muslim and Christian students shared images that illustrated religion in everyday life, the challenges they face as students for whom religion is an important identity, and the changes they would like to see on campus and in their city. Through facilitated discussions, the students grew in their understanding of one another as religious students. Although the nature of the struggle they faced were different, they all struggled. In conversations prompted by images, it became clear that the Muslim women want to be seen as religious subjects – they did not want to be seen as oppressed victims or targets for discrimination and hate. They did not want to hide. They wanted to be seen as Muslim-Canadians pursuing their dream of higher education. The hijab is not simply a piece of decorative cloth but is constitutive of their identity as Muslim-Canadians - women who have a lot to contribute to a multicultural and religiously diverse campus.