(W)Rapping the hijab: The question of agency and freedom in Mona Haydar’s hijabi

Abstract

This article presents a brief reflection on Mona Haydar's song "Hijabi" and situates it within the contemporary cultural debates regarding the hijab in the West.More specifically, I focus on how the song, through the mode of rap music that has had a long association with cultural protest and voicing the angst of minority ethnic communities, problematises the commonly help perceptions and stereotypes associated with the particular piece of attire.Further, this article discusses how the song calls for a broader feminist understanding of individual female agency and not locate it simply within the reductive binary of oppression and victimhood.