When Modesty Is a Weapon

There’s nothing sacred about a piece of cloth when it’s used to control a woman.

In many parts of the world, women are told to cover themselves — not out of personal belief, but because society demands it. They’re told it’s about modesty, dignity, protection, culture. But strip away the sugarcoated language, and what you find is control. Control over the body. Control over choice. Control over identity.

The obsession with how women dress is not about faith. It’s about fear — fear of a woman who does not obey.

When a girl is told to wear a hijab, a niqab, a burqa — or any “modest” clothing — not because she chose it, but because not wearing it would lead to shame, violence, or isolation, then it’s not faith. It’s force. And forced modesty is just another form of gendered violence..

Some say: “But many women choose it.”
Fine. Let them. Choice is sacred.
But choice only matters when the alternative is allowed.

Can a woman in Iran walk down the street without covering her hair without being beaten or arrested?
Can a girl in a conservative family refuse the veil without being disowned?
Can a student in a madrasa question the rules without being punished?

When modesty is enforced, it becomes political. It becomes a prison.

And the worst part? The people defending it the loudest are often men who will never have to live under its burden.

To be clear — the problem isn’t the veil. The problem is when women are punished for not wearing it.
That’s not religion. That’s patriarchy with a holy stamp.

A woman should be free to cover her head — and just as free to uncover it.

Until that happens, modesty will remain not a virtue, but a weapon.