There is definitely an effort by some in the Muslim community to “prove” that the hijab is no barrier to anything for anyone, that the girl who wears it loses nothing, sacrifices nothing, that she is every bit as modern, hip, fashionable, cool, free and normal as a girl who doesn’t wear it and then some because she is also modest and does not display herself for the sexual pleasure of strange men. Of course, that this pursuit of all of these things runs contrary to the pursuit of holiness that the hijab is supposed to enable is a contradiction that these types are hoping that you won’t pick up on.
That is probably what drove this girl to intially apply for this job. Someone, probably a religious leader or exemplar probably told her that her hijab should not be a bar to employment anywhere and that she was serving the cause of Islam by pursuing a career that would to any rational person be counterintuitive to her beliefs. This is how she would claim some territory for Islam as someone mentioned above. They probably argued, as some do, that Muslim women can have fashionable hairstyles too as long as no man other than her family sees it (the concept of art or fashion for its own sake or as public expression is lost on these types) Believe me this kind of campaign has been going on for a long time and we are just beginning to see its fruits (see Muslim Girl magazine for another example. Or what about those fashionista Muslimas that you see strutting around high end shopping malls?)
BTW, I couldn’t get over it the other day when I saw a girl in full hijab and big coat working at McDonald’s with some kind of brimmed cap worked into or worn under the scarf. I could only imagine the intimidation that her employers must have felt when she applied and sympathized with them trying to accomodate the uniform, which they have every right to require, to her religious preference. The compromise looked ridiculous. She still stood out like a sore thumb and she still looked like she was completely out of uniform compared to the others. But she was proving a point, by gum! Its just for that kind of attitude that I will usually try to avoid being served by someone like her unless I have no choice.
