White woman In a headscarf, would you stare?

[Tooshyshyhushhushidoi]

And conservative/ ‘modest’ clothing. Would you stare? Would you look twice?

context to follow :)

A Hermes bag as opposed to my tesco one… yes please

Is it only other muslims who shake their heads and stare?

In the nicest possible way, I don’t owe you an explanation. I didn’t create an AMA, I think there are a few by Muslim women, you could ask there

Why should OP have to justify herself?

Oh no sorry it was non Muslims who shook their heads, other white people

I honestly don't think I would notice.

I would not stare. Would I notice? Probably yes. In my own experience women who are white and wearing Islamic dress tend to be dressed more conservatively than other Muslim women, so their dress (more than the headscarf) makes them stand out.

Pretty much every old woman in the Yorkshire ex mining village I was brought up in wore a head scarf.

No, absolutely not.

No I wouldn't look twice. My mum used to wear a headscarf as a younger woman if she out during the day as did both my nans.

No! This used to be common in the past.

Ah pal, people stare at anything. Not to down play what you're going through here but I've seen people glare at one of my cousins hair lip scar quite obsessively.
It's madness that people are so rude but if you stand out for something remotely unusual, people gawp like goldfish.

Please don't worry about staring and please just wear what you want, people with absolutely nothing else going on but looking at other people really aren't worth a second thought.
Boring people with boring lives have nothing to offer you, so let them crack on and you be fabulous. 💚🧕🏻💚

Hopefully I wouldn’t stare, but I’d probably look at your headscarf and think that’s a pretty colour or something.

When I was younger a close friend of mine converted when she married a Muslim guy and started to cover. Weirdly I would say she got more stares and headshakes when we went out together than my other Muslim friend who covered and is vEgyptian origin and visibly so. People seemed offended by a white woman going 'outside' her expected religious affiliations, god knows why, people adopt new faiths and religions all the time. Having said that this was in a fairly socio-economically depressed part of the UK and there was quite a bit of racism about - more than once I had strangers in pubs/clubs ask me where I was from and telling me I'd 'had a bit of the tar brush'!!!

Having said that - if it was your first outing you may have been feeling a bit self-conscious and therefore more aware of stars which may not really have been stares iykwim.

Where I live, there are a lot of white women who wear the hijab. They are mostly from Iranian and Syrian communities and are very fair indeed. No one stares as them as far as I know.
I don't think women in scarves are unusual in most places.

i love this comment, thank you!

i think I should hire you as a life guru

Grew up in North Wales so nowhere exotic - wasn't wierd for women to wear headscarfs even in the 90s
My Nain wore them constantly and my mum used to wear one to keep her hair out of the way and clean when working outside. Neither were Muslim or Jewish or Conservative Christians, it was just normal.

It wouldn't really register as something to look at for me.

I might have stared if it had been the late Queen (who was, after all, the classic headscarf wearer)!

Can you explain why you are so arrogant and full of hate?

I suspect thats It, where I live yes there’s lots of Muslims but there’s also like a sort of backlash against them

first Encounter was now a few years ago but the feeling has persisted and now I just feel ultra self conscious. It’s to the extent I’d wear the face covering to just disappear

Not everyone who is Muslim is from Asia/Middle East/Far East. There are actually white European followers of Islam.

No, I wouldn't stare, I don't 'stare' at people in general.

I wouldn’t stare and I think it’s incredibly rude for people to do that.

I imagine you would attract more attention than a darker skinned woman as it would be obvious that you’ve made a choice to dress that way rather than be brought up religiously. As you see on this thread, people can’t understand why you would choose that life for yourself and I guess that attracts attention.

White women wearing hijabs are pretty common where I live, OP. Some of them at converts, others are from families that have probably been Muslim for generations. I wouldn't bat an eyelid either way.

Wear what you like, OP, and don't let the ignorance of others make you feel uncomfortable. It's their problem, not yours.

Don't quite think that that is what Op means.

I don’t stare at anyone, how childish to stare at someone. Did you think you saw a vision of the late Queen? (What kind of scarf do you mean?) Or are you wearing the scarf and someone was staring at you?

In London I’ve seen women wearing the head to toe clothing that only shows their eyes. I wouldn’t stare though as it’s so rude. We’d get a good telling off as kids if we ever stared at someone.