http://25.media.tumblr.com/f0df0ffef3659dd3721ff138f006d867/...

I’d love to look like this. I’d love to dress like this. Be veiled, hijab or in a chador, veil and beautiful. The problem is that I don’t want to be seen as either disrespectful or like that hipster who dressed in a hijab and went to the mall just to see how “they” live and what it’s like. I mean, I think this lady is beautiful even though she’s hidden from the nose down. I’d like to get to know her better. I know what the modesty of the hijab and chador mean and what they mean in the context of Islam, and while I don’t ascribe to all of Islam, there’s a lot good there, but I don’t want to convert.

But I don’t want to be seen as making fun of, or being disrespectful of Islam and those who live by its rules.

But I also want to be her.

I’d wear it and wear it proudly, but I don’t want to be “that girl” who does it because it’s cool.

And then there’s this pic:

http://iron.lmc.gatech.edu/~ntrivedi6/blog/wp-content/upload...

Personally, I think they are both beautiful, and I’d really like to get to know them more. What their life is like, now they feel and if they are happy.

And the odd thing is that they wear these to take away the physical beauty and to put the emphasis on the intellect, removing the obsession with looks for the demonstration of Allah and faith and social interaction, but we Western people tend to find this even more beautiful.

Odd dichotomy.