If you’re a young Muslim woman wearing a hijab in America, you get asked a lot of dumb questions. That’s what we’ve learnt from the latest Tumblr taking over the internet.
Eighteen-year-old Yasmeen, from California, posts ‘hijab selfies’ on her blog, poking fun at common misconceptions about hijabis – the term for women who have chosen to the Muslim headscarf.
‘I’ve been asked some pretty ridiculous questions over the years,’ she tells The Debrief . She started the Tumblr after constantly listening to ‘stupid’ comments about her appearance and religion. ‘Like, “Do you have ears?”, “Are you bald?”, and “Do you shower with your hijab on?”’
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That last one led to a selfie of her in the shower, wearing a hijab fashioned out of a bath towel, with the caption: ‘Of course I do.’ It soon went viral.
Other posts include the captions: ‘I wear a hijab, not a halo,’ and ‘You’re pretty for one of those people that wear those things on their head.’
‘I decided to take a comedic approach to it,’ she explains. ‘When I incorporated humour into it people got the message without getting offended.’
But what started as merely a place to poke fun at people’s ignorance over her religion has turned into a forum for people to educate themselves. And a support network for other young Muslims facing the same ignorance.
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‘My tumblr has kind of turned into a place where people just ask me questions about myself and my religion,’ she explains. ‘Some of the more common false assumptions would be that Muslim women have no rights, that we all wear hijabs, that we’re all Arabs.
‘The most offensive would probably be the typical: “Are you related to a terrorist?”’
Recent questions posted also include: ‘Is it wrong when Muslim girls don’t wear the hijab?’ (A: ‘Nope, each to their own’), ‘Do you support gay rights?’ (A: ‘Yup’), and ‘Do people who are Muslim get offended when people convert to Islam?’ (Short answer: Muslim isn’t a race, and no).
One nervous reader even asked: ‘Is it OK to compliment someone for having a pretty hijab?’ (A: ‘It’s totally fine dear. I always love when I get compliments from strangers on my hijab!’).
Does the amount of ignorance about her religion surprise her? ‘Sadly, not really,’ she tells us. ‘I’ve been wearing the hijab for over five years now so I’m used to it. Although I still get a little shocked every time I get asked a stupid question.’
Two years after starting the Tumblr she’s struggling to keep up with all the comments. ‘It got to the point where I had to turn off my messages, just so I could answer the 600/700 questions I’d already received.’
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She is, she says, overwhelmed by the reaction. ‘My brothers seem to be more excited than I was about it,’ she laughs. ‘All of my friends went crazy about it though, and everyone’s been so supportive and telling me how proud they are of me. It’s even gotten to the point where my high school teachers are sharing it with all of their friends.’
And – so far at least – she’s largely escaped the internet trolls. ‘I was definitely surprised when my selfies went viral. At first, I was worried that I may get a bunch of hate because I’ve seen it happen so many times on the internet, but instead I was showered with love.’
The only problem? Sometimes there is such a thing as too much love after all. Yasmeen has received so many offers of marriage via her site that she’s had to put a disclaimer on the front page saying politely that she has no intention of ever getting married.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.