I don’t think anyone is saying that having a “Hijab Day” is bad. Supporting the freedom to individually express your faith is important. But creating it in some performative attempt to honor someone who died because of rejecting the hijab is pretty awful.

Do you really think Masha Amini or any other woman fighting religious oppression in Iran would be happy to be memorialized by something called “Hijab Day?”

This is what has me so confused. I actually like the idea of a day recognizing the freedom of choice in wearing a hijab. But naming the day “hijab day” and putting it on her birthday makes it seem like she was killed for wearing a hijab not refusing to wear one. I actually had to go Google her name just to make sure I was thinking of the right person. The reference in a comment to George Floyd along with the name “Hijab Day” made me wonder if I had missed hearing about a women being killed here in the US by police for wearing a hijab.

On Ice Cream Day we celebrate by eating ice cream. On National Sibling Day we celebrate by telling mushy or embarrassing stories about our siblings. On Hijab day it would be natural to think it implies people should wear and appreciate the hijab more and have the freedom of religious expression. To put it on the birthday of a woman who was killed because she didn’t wear a hijab is really in poor taste. The optics are terrible and just confusing regardless of what the intention is.