Being labeled as oppressed is in itself a form of oppression that Muslim women who wear the hijab encounter frequently. They are under pressure to demonstrate that they are not voiceless but have agency. This stereotype of them as antifeminist and weak is humiliating for them. By countering this impression, they are doing two things simultaneously. First, they are regaining their dignity by making their agency visible. Second, they are also contesting the prevalent notion that Muslim men are abusive. In this way, not only are Muslim women rearticulating what it means to be a Muslim woman; they are also redefining and challenging common sense understandings of who a Muslim man is—that is, someone who oppresses them or subjugates them.

SEED: This counterintuitive framing — that liberation discourse can itself be a form of oppression — could anchor a piece on allyship, saviorism, or the unintended harms of well-meaning advocacy.

Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, loc. 386