To begin, I don’t have any intention of arguing a point, I just wish to discuss what I saw and what I thought. ‘They Call Me Muslim’ is a short documentary (directed by some UC graduate student studying journalism) that portrays what are suggested as two seemingly opposite situations concerning the hijab and it’s symbolism as either expression or oppression.

In the first half, the context provided is France and it’s ban on wearing religious symbols in public schools, and the focus is on a girl who chooses to wear the hijab in order to practice her religion. Although she chose to begin wearing it at an early age, I wondered if she would have been made to wear it at some appropriate age if she hadn’t chosen to. Although this half of the documentary only showed the perspective of this one girl’s family, I think it’d be safe to say that different Muslim families in France would have varying opinions on enforcing that women wear the hijab. I believe it was some university scholar or government official being interviewed, who said that the policy sought to accommodate those who might choose not to wear the hijab. The scenario he proposed was that if some Muslim women wore the hijab, conservative Muslims would use them as examples to encourage women in their lives, who might not wish to wear the hijab, to do so. Someone mentioned afterwards that it was also stated that no Muslim women were invited to discuss this policy when it was being made. However, I felt that whether there is a policy or not, some issue concerning the hijab would be present, since it seems to be somewhat controversial.

In the second half, the focus is on a woman living in Iran who loosely follows the religious law that requires women to wear hijabs, not because she subscribes to Islam but rather only to abide by the law. Witnessing her lifestyle, it seems she doesn’t follow the religious laws established in Iran simply because she doesn’t consider herself a Muslim. From the perspective provided by the documentary, it seems that her freedoms are being infringed upon because of Iran’s theocracy. This woman isn’t the only case where Iran’s theocracy could be considered oppressive to women, as was seen recently in the Women’s World Chess Championship held in Iran. Some of the top women chess players in the world chose not to attend in protest, as they would have had to wear hijabs in order to compete.

In any case, I feel that if one believes that France’s policy be retracted, one should also think it appropriate for Iran to stop enforcing the hijab. In both cases, it seems clear that arguments can be made that rights are being infringed upon, whether religious or social.