Arwa Hussain:
My inspiration
![A woman wearing a green hijab and traditional Pakistani clothing stands at a wooden podium in front of a group of eighteen women seated on the ground of a large room with beige walls and brown floor. The women on the floor are all wearing blue hijabs except for one woman in the center who is wearing yellow.](/content/concordia/en/gradstudies/professional-development/public-scholars/alumni/2022/arwa-hussain/my-inspiration/_jcr_content/content-main/grid_container_1636475739/grid-container-parsys/image.img.jpg/1655138564643.jpg)
Why do women's choices to live religious lives need to be understood and what role has social media played in shaping this choice?
When I came of age to wear the rida, a religious hijab unique to my community, my mother gave me a choice. Not if I would wear it, but whether I would wear it to school. My mother knew that for a young, introverted girl, a visibly different dress would be a challenge. My choice is one I make repeatedly. That choice is an anathema to many who think that women who wear the veil and adopt religion are coerced into it. My research is inspired by a need to show that women have different ways of being in this world.