I hated that I was never allowed to have close male friends.
I hated that I was not allowed to wear shorts during the summer or dresses to school dances. I hated the way teachers would look at me when we studied Islam in school, as if I had both the authority and responsibility of speaking for a religion with 1.6 billion followers. Being a normal American teenager, whatever that may mean, was never an option I had, and from that realization grew anger. For many years, I was comfortable but not happy in my role as the token minority. I was never much of a rule follower, and it didn’t help that I spent the second half of my childhood in a small town whose population is 84% white. As religion and culture evolved and adapted in modern Bangladesh, my parents held on to their culture as it was when they emigrated in 1987, Islam frozen in time. In many ways, my parents’ Islam is even more strict and traditional than the religion as practiced by their families back home. They have formed an airtight community of Muslim immigrants whose collective rejection of mainstream American culture keeps them clinging closely to the values they grew up with. For nearly 30 years, they have lived in America while constantly holding its culture at arm’s length. My parents are not unique in their beliefs. Growing up, there was no part of my life left untouched by Islam; what I could eat, what I could wear, when I could go out and who I could go out with were all subject to the religious and cultural norms my parents brought with them when they emigrated. My parents’ religion dictated their values and their values dictated my life. In their world, religion is and has always been an unquestionable fact. My parents are both immigrants from Bangladesh, a nation in which 87% of the population is Muslim. I grew up in a relatively strict Muslim household in post-9/11 America. Search for: Follow Project Y – Global Youth Cultures Network on īy Aniqa Raihan Introduction: Growing Up Muslim “Just because it looks cool”? An exploration of young people’s reasons for shopping second hand clothing.“It’s Going to Work Out”: Negotiating Anxiety and Passion in Studying Humanities and Social Sciences.Guerilla Kitchen: Respite in Consumption.
Fuck It, This Is Class! Youth Smoking Habits and Attitudes.
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