[View the story "Muslim hipster 'Mipsterz' aim to defy stereotypes" on Storify ]Muslim hipster 'Mipsterz' aim to defy stereotypes Hipsters in hijabs Storified by CBC News Community · Thu, Jan 16 2014 14:11:30
NPR
They're stylish, creative, edgy and young -- hipsters in every positive sense of the word. They also just so happen to wear hijabs on their heads and practise the Muslim faith.
Meet the "Mipsterz," a growing group of self-identified "Muslim hipster" women who have been making waves online in recent months with their bold work, social media savvy, and powerful messages of equality and self-expression.
"A Mipster is someone at the forefront of the latest music, fashion, art, critical thought, food, imagination, creativity, and all forms of obscure everything," reads a Facebook page dedicated to the subculture. "A Mipster is an ironic identity, one that serves more as a perpetual critique of oneself and of society... a bold, yet humble mind, open to disparate ideas and firm enough in conviction to act, speak out and drop the hammer when the time is right."
From Abdul Zulfikar ZaminFacebook
In
a Daily Beast article published this week, Mipster Yasmin Chebbi explains that the movement began as an email listerv between a small group of friends. What started as a place to discuss politics and share new music evolved into a more serious space for non-judgemental discussion. It was there that the Mipster concept was formed.
"Too often, Hijabi women are placed in categories of expectation," Chebbi told the Daily Beast. "The stereotypes of being meek, submissive, backward, and bland have been projected onto me far too many times. Growing up wearing the hijab and living in America, I never felt I belonged to a particular group. I felt that to others, being devoted to my faith and adopting interests such as music, art, and fashion were in conflict."
Chebbi and her friends felt that it was time to offer up a new portrayal of Muslim women in America, and they did so with a video about Muslim hipsters called
Somewhere in America #MIPSTERZ .
Somewhere In America #MIPSTERZ (CLEAN | RADIO EDIT)sheikhbake
The video, which features 12 young Muslim women skateboarding and modelling trendy clothes to the beats of Jay-Z's "Somewhere in America," received considerable attention from blogs and on social media.
Some were
critical of the work when it was released in December, asserting that it poorly represented Muslims and objectified the women who appear in it.
"The Mipsterz video is hard to stomach for so many because it throws the increasing Islamofashionista culture into your face,"
wrote The Islamic Monthly's Sana Seed . "Catwalk ready, catwalk strut and catwalk 'tude seem so antithetical to what we know and expect, sometimes zealously, as Islamic modesty."
Similarly, Fatimah Waseem
asked on her blog "Is this what hijab is? A plumped, fluffed, and frivolous mash-up of modern tends laced in showing one's figure? Is this 'swag' the way to show the empowerment of Muslim women? Is this the kind of image you would want your little sister or your daughter to chase after? Is this version of hijab, modesty, and character the only way to tell the world that we are empowered, confident, and alive? "
On Twitter, their negative sentiments were echoed.
I just seen the mipster video or whatever that was..authibillah. May Allah protect us and our future generation from such fitnah ameen.بنة يوسف
#Somewhereinamerica some Muslims think that celebrating consumerism is liberation.Aamer Rahman
@AJStream Stereotypes abound everywhere. Islam in America doesn't need awesome & grotesque Islamofashionistas to objectify or empower them.alhaji hamidu chodi
Many others, however, stuck up for the young women, praising their style, creativity and boldness.
I liked the mipster video. How those women choose to wear their hijab is between them and God, not you.Summer Adhal
as far as the 'mipster' video, i think it was dope. im tired of this idea of 'wearing the hijab right' what does that even mean?elif fâtıma فاطمة
The arguments against the Mipster Muslim video are invalid. The video is not an educational Islamic video. It's simply an artistic video..Bayan
wow i have just seen the "mipster video" using Jay z's "somewhere in America." Im not gonna lie it was pretty dope. Nice fashionalphaghostx
A #creative fusion of art, #fashion & hip-hop in #American-#Muslim culture. Bold. Cutting-Edge.#MIPSTERZ http://t.co/opsRIwgwtrICJ Peace
Regardless of which side of the fence they fell on, many agreed that the video did an effective job of getting people talking about an important issue.
Seeing some great conversations on the #Mipsterz video and representation - grateful to the creators of vid for this, really.Sana Saeed
Don't be afraid of controversy because that's how we change mentality! #mipsterz #somewhereinamerica #muslimwomenHAJER NAILI
At least one good thing has come from the Mipster video and that is the discussion being generated.Ziyad Dadabhoy
Ammarah Ghani, who appears in the video, wrote in an NPR post that despite the controversy surrounding it, Mipsterz were pleased with the discussions the video inspired.
"The video was meant to spark an important conversation: Muslims are not monolithic," she wrote. "We are not monolithic in what we wear or how we think -- and that is part of what the video was trying to communicate. It wasn't meant to represent the entire diversity of Muslim women, or even the entire diversity of Muslim women in America. It simply shows one story that is happening in this country."
Buzzfed
The Mipsterz Facebook group has since bloomed to nearly 5,000 members, with dozens of new thought-provoking videos, articles and photos posted every day.
"Mipsterz are an underground scene that's going around cities, online, and across social media," said California fashion designer Nancy Hoque, who styled the video, to the Daily Beast. "A lot of my scarves and the way we do our photography present that fashion. I wear a headscarf so I experience it. I know what it's like to try to create unique outfits and try to have a personality behind it and be current with what's mainstream."
Yet while much of the controversy surrounding the video did focus on fashion, the group's purpose is about much more than de-mystifying the hijab.
"Here's to a voice in full color, to the rich tapestry of our collective experience, to the embraces and the rejections and all that lies between," reads the Mipsterz Facebook page. "Here's to a space brimming with the music and verse of a thousand cultures. Here's to fostering a sincere, loving, caring community who values you beyond the company logo on your business card (if you even have one). A network of Muslim hipsters who come and learn and grow together, and sometimes just kick back and chill for a while as we style out and let our amazing energy fill the world with awesome."
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