Dear White Feminists: Can You Please Stop "Saving" Us?

It's a Saturday night, and I'm sitting at my favorite coffee shop, sipping on an almond milk macha latte (extra foam, obviously) when a white feminist walks in with her latest cause du jour. She's been listening to TED talks, reading articles, and now—she's come to save the oppressed women of Afghanistan. She proudly tells anyone who'll listen how liberated she is, how enlightened her understanding of "true feminism" has become. But somehow, in the process, she's missed the memo about the difference between oppression and empowerment, specifically when it comes to the women she's so eager to "help."

It's fascinating, really. These women—let's call them "white feminists"—are constantly parading around with their latest shiny, feel-good intellectual moment, and this week's shiny object is the hijab. Somehow, listening to a European populist political figure speak about Afghanistan has given them a license to lecture young hijabi women on what "true courage" really looks like. Cue the pity-filled looks, the clucking, the "Oh, sweetheart, I feel so sorry for you." And then, as if they've discovered the secret to the universe, they declare, "You don't know what true freedom is. Just take that thing off. It's your choice!"

Here's the thing: if you think that is freedom, you're missing the point entirely. True courage isn't in what you show—it's in how you choose to dress, how you define your identity in a world that is obsessed with commodifying and objectifying your body. While these white feminists are strutting around with their "I'm-so-liberated" slogans, the reality is they're stuck in a society that hyper-sexualizes young girls at every turn—through pop music, movies, and the whole "boobs, but no brains" beauty standard that plagues us all.

Let's talk about it: European society—and let's face it, American society too—has an unhealthy obsession with the female body. Women are encouraged to show more, sell more, and reveal more. Girls are taught to think their value lies in how much skin they're willing to expose. But somehow, when a woman chooses to cover up, it becomes a symbol of oppression? Hold on, I'm not buying it. If a piece of cloth on a woman's head bothers you that much, I suggest you turn the mirror on yourself. The problem is not her hijab; it's your discomfort with the idea that women might have the audacity to define freedom on their own terms, on their own beliefs, and on their own faith.

Because, spoiler alert: the hijab is just a piece of cloth. It's not a shackle. It's not a symbol of oppression. It's a personal choice, a religious choice, and a conscious act of freedom for many women. But for these white feminists, it's apparently an opportunity to feel superior, like they've cracked the code to real empowerment. So here's a newsflash: the women you think you're saving are, in fact, some of the most empowered women out there. We know exactly who we are. We don't have to flaunt our bodies to be seen for our achievements, our intellect, and our ideas. And guess what? You can't reduce us to a scarf. We are so much more.

If we want to talk about real oppression, let's take a good look at the real issue at hand: how society is obsessed with sexualizing young women. How every song on the radio, every movie on the big screen, and every ad on your Instagram feed tells you that your body is your worth. The hijab? It's a symbol of agency, not submission. It's a declaration that our worth is not tied to what we wear, or don't wear, or what anyone thinks we should wear. In fact, wearing a hijab is an active rejection of a society that sees women as nothing more than their physicality. So, no, white feminist, you don't get to claim that the hijabi woman is less free than you because she's not showing her hair. Her body, her choice, her courage.

And here's something else you should know: the rights that many Muslim women are still fighting for today? They were already there. Many Muslim women have been advocating for their own rights for years. But Western narratives—fueled by European and American propaganda—have painted Islam as this monolithic evil, a faith of oppression, in order to justify military actions and geopolitical interests. But guess what? Women in Muslim-majority countries have been fighting for education, for work, for autonomy, and for dignity long before you decided to show up with your "woke" opinions.

So, what do you do when you realize you've got it all wrong? You start listening, and you start learning. Because the only feminist movement worth supporting is one that sees the whole woman—no matter what she's wearing, where she's from, or what faith she practices. And if you think the hijabi women you're trying to "rescue" are any less liberated than you, then maybe it's time to check your privilege and your assumptions.

Speaking of which, I have one last suggestion: if you're really looking for a feminist movement that empowers women, regardless of their background or clothing choices, look no further than the Women's Rights March. It's massive, it's global, and one of its co-founders? An American hijabi woman who's doing more for gender equality than any of your Instagram posts ever could.

So here's my final question for you: If true feminism is about freedom, then why does the freedom to choose your own path scare you so much?