Does My Hijab Scare You?

Does My Hijab Scare You?

Hijab, my right, my choice, my life. In today’s society, The hijab is generally viewed as a form of oppression by the Western world. I’ve had a few unpleasant experiences because of my choice of wearing it. The first time a stranger commented on my scarf was definitely the hardest one. I was approached by a Christian lady in France who told me to liberate myself from this religion and remove my scarf which is keeping me from living freely. She expressed herself loudly to reinforce her opinion while pedestrians stopped and stared. I felt crushed, I was young and never had a problem with other people’s opinion on my hijab, but the people around me laughed. I was angry but still very hurt because what was once my proudest decision instantly became a regret.

I have discovered that the hijab is frequently misinterpreted by non-Muslims; it is more than just a headdress. It signifies women’s modesty, safety, and privacy. In Islam, men must also maintain modesty by wearing proper attire, lowering their gaze, and treating women with respect. I understand that many people have a misconception that women are forced to wear it, but it’s a personal choice where religion does not force it upon anyone. Islam provides you entire freedom and authority over your decisions; what is written in the Quran (the holy book) should be followed by Muslims, but it is still a choice. The hijab is worn in various nations to follow a culture rather than Islam. Women in Iran are required to wear scarves and are not permitted to leave the house without them. As previously noted, this is a rigid culture rather than a religious practice. And I believe that it is crucial to be able to distinguish and properly comprehend the difference between religion and culture.

 

Citation:

Hussein, Jennifer. “Four Women Who Are Reclaiming the Narrative ON Hijabis.” Allure, 2 Jan. 2020, www.allure.com/story/muslim-hijabi-women-talk-about-hijabs.

“Why Do Some Women Wear a Hijab?” Wonderopolis, wonderopolis.org/wonder/why-do-some-women-wear-a-hijab.

Today, the public is normalizing women’s choice to wear revealing clothes, but going against women who want to cover up. For example, in France women who wear the hijab struggle to do simple activities such as going to the beach or dropping their kids off at school. I believe that every woman should be able to dress the way they desire without fear of being judged or harassed, whether it’s online, on the streets, in a restaurant or anywhere else. For many people, how they choose to cover themselves is a kind of expression, a form of art. Women should be able to wear anything they want, whether it’s close to nothing or almost everything covered up. Society should respect a woman’s right to choose how she covers her body, and it should be no one’s business but her own. The hijab is an important part of my identity, and I will always be proud wearing it. It’s not only about covering up; it’s about what you say, what you do, and who you are, and it motivates me to improve as a person.

The Bleached Beauty

The Bleached Beauty

Summary of the Art

This artwork was created to illustrate the struggles individuals face due to colourism, which refers to the aesthetic preference for lighter skin.

The background of the artworks is both current and past slogans and advertisements in the media, promoting skin bleaching products to lighten one’s skin.

The artwork was deliberately designed to look warped, to represent the cognitive distortions that an individual of darker skin colour experiences when they are consumed by the notion that their skin colour is unfavorable. 

By Gabriella Vernon

Dune (2021) Review

Dune (2021) Review

Dune has for years been called an “unfilmable” story due to its complexity and the depth required. The restrictions of only a few hours of screen time has taken its toll on many directors who have tried in the past. At first there was David Lynch’s 1984 attempt to put the whole book in one film. That fell flat with its bloat and incoherent plot. Then there was a multi part TV special in the 2000’s, which gave it depth but lacked the budget to truly make the world alive.

That leads us to today.

Denis Villeneuve (of Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 fame) has stepped into the ring. His approach split the book in two parts to make it one hell of a cinema epic that stays faithful to the source material. It’s in that second part, the faithfulness to the story, I am most glad to report Villeneuve has gone above and beyond.

Dune, to the uninitiated, was the story that has defined modern Science fiction. You don’t have to look far in the world of our most popular sci-fi films to see its impact. Alien and its title monster share a striking resemblance in form and habit to a creature in Dune. Blade Runner, with its detailed depth of a cyberpunk dystopian future, is lifted almost verbatim from the imperial ruling houses in Dune’s universe.

Even the most famous movie spoiler of all time, “Luke I am your father,” was a story beat taken directly from Dune. With the gravity of what Dune’s legacy has inspired, the story of bringing this to the silver screen properly has been a fraught with challenges and adversity.

With so much pressure on Denis Villeneuve I can say that he has, in his efforts, put his heart in the right place. The film is a cinematic masterpiece with sweeping landscapes and epic wide shots that demand every inch of screen real estate in your cinema. Its striking in its beauty and the world it builds is a character unto itself. This character is by far the biggest star in the movie. For better or for worse.

The actors in this movie were cast brilliantly. Timothée Chalamet is captivating as Paul, a young man thrown into a house of cards with powers he didn’t ask for and visions that slowly chill his soul through the progression of the film. Oscar Isaac as the Lord Duke Leto plays the compassionate but firm ruler, to a fault. And Stellan Skarsgård plays the unsettlingly disturbing Baron Harkonnen with his brief but memorable appearances. All of these actors played the part perfectly.

This is where I have my biggest critique of the film. Even with the captivating slow burn moments given to each character, I am left wanting more. More development and more time with them before your camera view gets pulled back out and the world takes over again. The world is greedy with its time in the spotlight.

It’s in this sense I feel Denis Villeneuve has put too much weight on making the audience fall in love with the unique universe as much as he has. But then again, I feel it was intentional. This movie is the first half of a two-part epic, and it doesn’t wrap up as neatly in the end as I would have hoped. With our scene set and our protagonist ready to come into his own, it stops, clearly leaving that extra development and a climatic finale for the second half, which I am left in great anticipation for. I think back to movies like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 which on its own is an ok movie, however, when watched back to back with Part 2 it becomes a far more fleshed out and enjoyable experience.

For those of us who have read and know what is to come, we could not be more excited. For those just being introduced to this world with this movie, I pray the world is captivating enough to bring them back around for another go.

This movie is by far the best version of the legendarily difficult-to-adapt book. Great things are here in this film, and if this makes enough money even greater things lie ahead. I just hope its magic can get enough folks to come see it and have producers greenlight it’s finale it has rightfully earned. 

4.5/5 stars

How To Lose a “Lover” In 10 Days

How To Lose a “Lover” In 10 Days

How To: Lose a ‘Lover’ in 10 days

Halloween Edition

Life gets complicated easily, one might say. It might be friend group drama or family affairs, but it never gets easy with romance. 

We’re all searching for that special someone, but love isn’t always a two-way street. Nobody enjoys breakups or particularly hurting others. Hence, the solution is simple…

Get them to break up with you.

On Halloween though, we scare them away.

 

LochMess Monster

Here’s an idea. Show up soaking wet to a date and pretend nothing ever happened, in fact you have no idea what they’re talking about. But don’t stop at that… Go to sleep covered in fake blood, go to church covered in dirt, show up at the Gym covered in slime and most importantly DENY EVERYTHING and DON’T LAUGH. They’re bound to break it off, unless they just send you straight to a mental facility.

Cancel them like Pluto

Bore them to death with astrology talk. And then spend their money on going to a psychic.

For some extra spice, pay your fortune teller to tell them you’re incompatible, and staying in this relationship will end in their slow and painful death.

 

What Rhymes With Witch?

Witches are all cool and fun, until they cast a curse on you. So, here’s some advice, go curse the hell out of them. Treat it like a therapy session, let your inner devil out to play on Halloween. Be crazy, throw things around, get mad, get excessively weird. 

Don’t stop until you hear the magic words, “I want to break up”.

 

Deep Dark Secret

Take a page out of any Agatha Christie novel and come up with your own dark, scary secret. Tailor it carefully to their fears. Maybe your last boyfriend died of suspicious circumstances, maybe you have chronic explosive diarrhea or maybe you’re ready to introduce them to your kids.

Midnight Madness

One way to get someone sick of you, is not letting them get any sleep and I don’t mean the sexy kind. I mean, yelling at the top of your voice every time they start to doze off. When faced with the inevitable confrontation, for a little extra creepiness, tell them you were dreaming of going Hannibal Lecter on them and that in fact, they tasted delicious.

 

My Anaconda Do

Adopt a pet they hate. A tarantula, a snake (tell them it’s poisonous), or a sphinx cat if that’s what it takes. If they have allergies, even better; use it to your advantage.

I’d rather have a pet than a boyfriend anyway.

 

Boils and Bubbles

YouTube is a click away. Find the most disgusting Halloween makeup tutorial and get yucky with it. Just imagine the end result, oozing with unfamiliar, stinky fluids. And oh no! I think it’s growing!!! 

Be sure to tell them it’s contagious. 

Anti-Yeti

Can’t grow hair out in a day like a yeti, that’s ok. Just shave it all off, eyebrows included. Let that spooky moonlight reflect of your smooth, bald head. 

And if they still love you, maybe they’re worth another chance.

 

Ghost Them

This one is a keeper; too bad they aren’t. You could just block them on all your social media and avoid any places you have in common. 

OR….

Disappear, and make all your friends tell them you died 10 years ago.

 

Fake Your Own Death

Although, I can’t really guide you through this one, keep in mind it works for tax evasion too.

Sherlock Holmes did it, so it can’t be that hard. Just make sure it’s a closed casket funeral. 

 

So here are 10 ways you might scare a lover away. If they don’t work, call me, I’ll help you bury their body.

Nonetheless, try to be kind. I’m sure their greatest Halloween fear is losing you.

I would like to end this piece with a last remark. I will not be held accountable for any disasters that may come from reading this article. Please be careful with the advice I have given and keep in mind that the consequences of your actions might end up haunting you.

Happy Halloween.

How to Embarrass Yourself and Own It

How to Embarrass Yourself and Own It

How to Completely Embarrass Yourself and Own It
Confidence in the face of humiliation

There is a bar somewhere in Geneva. It’s a bar that frequently hosts open mic nights and similar events. It’s also a bar where I will never show my face again. I tried performing there once, and it was a complete flop. Stage fright got the best of me, and so the crowd got the worst from me. That experience is sitting comfortably in the top 10 worst experiences I’ve ever had. But since then, I have botched dozens of performances. Unsurprisingly, I don’t really have the same view of those experiences anymore, and when I do, I own it. I may never show my face at that first bar again, but now I smile in the face of humiliation.

To constantly throw yourself into situations where you are not in control can do a tremendous amount of good for your self confidence and anxiety. It also helps develop robust coping mechanisms that aid in desensitizing you. These are a few key ideas to keep in your head when practicing embarrassment.

Find your space
The first step to this is to find a space where you feel safe enough to screw up. Some spaces are much more judgemental than others. For example, if you fumble over your words during an important class presentation, the repercussions will be worse than if you mess up your solo at a jam night, in the midst of a bunch of drunks. Learning to embarrass yourself in a safe, forgiving space is good so that you can deal with it and pick yourself up more fluidly in places where the stakes are higher. The idea isn’t to push yourself too far out of your comfort zone, but more like learning to functionally live within your ability and develop it no matter what. So, find a place where you can try new things. I use jam nights, but inviting friends over, just to cook up a dish you’ve never tried before is already a great step.


Once you have that, it`s time to fuck up.

Learn to accept imperfection.
In places where results are expected, the last thing you want to do is publicly talk yourself down. Just take the L home. If I were to stand on stage and say “oops sorry that really sucked” not only will that be even more embarrassing, but people who had not been paying attention will look at you with the bias you presented to them.
I sometimes jam at a blues bar with a bunch of 60-something year old men. Some of them are assholes. Whenever I’d be asked to solo when I was just starting out, I was terrified of these guys’ judgement. Not only did it make my playing worse, but when I did hit a wrong note, I would make a face. I’d cringe at myself to let the audience know that “yes I am aware that sounded off, don’t worry, I’ll work on it. I am a self aware and functional adult.” The kicker is that most of the audience are not musicians, therefore, their untrained ears won’t notice when I do screw up. My friend once expressed to me that he only noticed there were off-notes in my playing once I made it clear.
So now I smile all the way through instead.

Avoid getting defensive
Although it is completely natural to get defensive when we are faced with criticism, if somebody calls you out, avoid making a scene and trying to justify your actions. You can wholeheartedly disagree with somebody’s comments. You can argue with them too. However, if you are performing in a space where you are not completely competent, there is no reason to argue because you likely don’t know better. By all means yell at them in your head when you shower that night. But don’t risk making an ass of yourself by defending your actions in public. That is not a constructive way to embarrass yourself and own it.

Once you’ve managed to do all that, all you need to learn how to do is how to be resilient. You need to know that you won’t always have a flawless performance. You need to expect to hate yourself for a little while after that. But most importantly, you need to be ready to do it again.

These days, I jump at almost any opportunity to perform on stage or in front of people in general. I’d like to think that I can hold my own pretty well too when it does happen. One thing I know for certain is that once the world stops ending, and bars start hosting events again, I’ll be the first to sign up for the open mic.

But I’m still never showing my face at that first bar ever again.