I wondered how much her niqab had been a halal form of teenage rebellion. Had it been a version of a Goth hairdo or a heart tattoo? A declaration of self, a gentle press against the boundaries of her childhood? But then I checked myself: simply flattening the niqab to an adolescent fashion statement stripped it of anything sacred. Not that all hijabs are about submitting to God. Those with fake Calvin Klein logos on them suggest a submission to the market. For the women wearing both hijab and skinny jeans, a headscarf is not necessarily about modesty but perhaps represents a personal style
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