Unveiling prejudice

Three weeks ago, in Vice magazine’s fashion section, columnist Annette Lamothe-Ramos published an article titled “I Walked Around In A Burqa All Day (And I’m Not Muslim).”

In what could have been a potentially interesting and eye-opening social experiment on how Muslims are perceived and treated within our culture, especially in New York, it ended up being the intellectual equivalent of the time Tyra Banks walked around in a fat suit.

Lamothe-Ramos describes her romp around New York, stopping to pose idly at various touristy landmarks, as an adventure in “scaring tourists.”

In some kind of preemptive strike to say exactly what everyone was thinking, she writes, “I didn’t realize the significance of visiting one of the tallest buildings in New York dressed in Islamic garb until we reached the entrance.“

The real cringe-worthy line comes just after, when she states, “I felt like a jerk.”

Yes, Annette, you should feel like a jerk, but for a much different reason.

Among other things, she described the garment as “resembling the Grim Reaper,” “the least-revealing piece of clothing of all time” and looking “like Batman.”

Even if we were to view this piece as exclusively fashion-related, as existing in an alternate reality devoid of cultural or racial bias, Lamothe-Ramos still managed to be wrong. The garment she wore was not actually a full burqa but rather a niqab, a veil that covers the face, except for the area around the eyes.

Sure enough, the publication received a large amount of attention, much of it negative. What was Vice’s response? A follow-up article with the telling tagline, “Spoiler: We’re not sorry.”

Thank you, Vice, for perpetuating ignorance in a country already wildly uncomfortable with Islam.

In its rebuttal, Vice cited other disgustingly insensitive pieces that, in a lame and poorly executed attempt at satire, featured two reporters who wore blackface and spent a day using a wheelchair.

Following the recent controversy surrounding a shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, one assumes people would think twice before making negative commentary on Islamic dress like this. 

However, it seems that in popular culture, even among “educated” individuals, the culture of Islam is thoughtlessly mocked.

In its rebuttal, Vice said, “The point was to treat these articles of clothing as any other — completely secular and devoid of higher meaning.”

A naïve sentiment, considering that Muslims and those who are interpreted as being Muslim are frequent subjects of violence and discrimination in our culture.

It is not possible to treat these pieces as devoid of higher meaning.

Rather, we should seek to understand and sympathize with the experiences of others before making careless judgments on something as simple as the way they dress.