Angie wanted our reactions as Muslim women, and mine was
almost instantaneous. I spent another five minutes trying to give ALA, and the
designers, the benefit of the doubt. But it soon became clear that I just
couldn’t. It was just too blatant, and many other friends, both Muslim and
non-Muslim, reacted with the same discomfort and anger.
If you look at the image, you can see that the design forms
a veil over the model’s face. That, coupled with the fact that the model is
otherwise dressed rather “skimpily”, in Angie’s words, quickly draws the mind
to the usual stereotypes about the oppressed, repressed Muslim woman, smothered
by her veil and her “backwards” faith.*
(I’ve heard this directed at me so many times, but typing it
out always gives me another little twinge of irritation.)
Added on top of this already problematic suggestion is the
accompanying text: a big, red “Readstricted,” and the fine print that reads, “Warning:
Banning Books Restricts Our Freedom to Read.”
I’m not going to lie: in 2015, coming up on the anniversary
of the initial #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign, from an organization that has a young
hijaabi librarian that I personally know as one of its 2015 Emerging Leaders…
I am not amused. I am not amused at all.
Since I know I can get incoherent when on a tear, I’m
parsing this down to two main points.
(Honestly, I’m a big fan of three, since
three is a magic number and all, but…let’s stick to the basics of this
situation and why it’s concerning.)
