“The hijab shows a woman’s dedication to her religion, but it’s more than that to me.”
Senior Mehnaz Rinik is one of the many hijabi students at Cardozo. To an outsider, the meaning of the hijab is simple: it shows that a woman is Muslim, and people typically think nothing more of it. But to Rinik, it was less about her religion, but about her own personal growth.
Rinik began wearing the hijab recently and when she did, she noticed that there was a shift in how people perceived her. While many people were supportive, others were visibly less enthusiastic. For a while, she brooded over these interactions — the clear hesitance, the shifty eyes — she wondered if she made the right choice. Even then, she soon realized that it was never about what other people thought, or assumed, but more about how she who she wants to be.
Mehnaz Rinik is not defined by her religion nor her gender. Her intelligence, the way she carries herself, and her unwavering sense of self are what makes her who she is. She is empathetic, and able to create spaces where people are able to comfortably express themselves. Many students can often feel ostracized in schools and are often deprived of a safe space to talk openly about their identity.
Fortunately, in places like Cardozo, there are many clubs, such as Rinik’s own club, For Dozo By Women, Period, that allow people to talk about their experiences as not just women, but as people of other identities as well.
“I’m glad that I was able to accomplish as much as I did in high school…I’m grateful that I at least played a role in cultivating a safe space for women…in cultivating safe spaces for minority students through my tenure as secretary for Gateway,” Rinik stated. To be able to create places for minorities and to give them opportunities to share their experiences is a great accomplishment — one that takes a lot of dedication and understanding.
It’s not easy by any means, and there are everyday struggles too. Discrimination creates the reason for the need for safe spaces to begin with, and Rinik herself has seen a lot of it first hand.
“A lot of the struggles I go through nowadays are honestly rooted in being both a woman and Muslim…it’s hard to mention my struggles as a woman without mentioning another facet of my identity [Bengali or Muslim],” she explained.
Cultural aspects can tie directly into misogyny, but that’s not the only time it can be experienced. “Sometimes you engage in a regular conversation with a male- and they just say something that feels deeply misogynistic. It makes you do the biggest eyebrow raise and makes you feel uncomfortable,” she said. Regular interactions can often go south quickly and it’s important to recognize how common they can be and how they’re often coming from the people closest to you.
There are many factors to a person’s identity. Race, gender, religion — these are just a few extrinsic things that define people. When it comes to Mehnaz Rinik, all three tie in with one another. Rinik is Bengali, a woman, and Muslim, but that is not all she is. She is empathetic, caring, and most importantly, resilient.
“Racism and sexism are harsh realities that are super interconnected, you might have to work ten times harder and be better than everyone else. It’s an institutional barrier that must be stopped. Building that resilience and overcoming obstacles in spite of that is a testament of excellence,” Rinik concluded.
