Why Do Muslim Women Wear Hijab?

Muslim women who wear the hijab are an ethnic minority that are increasingly facing more discrimination when applying for jobs and in the workplace. These women face even more challenges and discrimination in certain fields such as Public Relations. Public Relations related jobs particularly involve some sort of exposure of Muslim women to the public and a physical contact with customers as it has been seen in the two lawsuit cases mentioned earlier, Disneyland and Abercrombie & Fitch (Huffington post, 2012). Muslim women who choose to wear the headscarf face more discrimination because the hijab is a symbol that openly reveals their religion. These women often times have to work harder to prove themselves compared to women who do not wear

Therefore, they do not feel obliged to respect cultural norms (Chicago monitor, 2013). Muslim women are constantly faced with the challenge to give up on wearing the hijab and practicing their religion to be hired for a position. Unfortunately today, the hijab does not help Muslim women when applying for jobs, if anything it only reduces the chances for them to be hired. However, the fact that Muslim women in previous cases, such as the Disneyland, Abercrombie &Fitch and AT&T lawsuits, have fought for their cultural and religious identity and have won the cases against religious discrimination in the workplace gives hope to all the Muslim women who have faced or are currently facing religious discrimination in the workplace. Despite the barriers that Muslim women who wear the hijab might face in the workplace and in their personal life, it is important to take into account some of the advantages that these women have in the United States. According to a Gallup survey in March 2009, Muslim women in the United States tend to be better educated than Muslim women in Western Europe and the average American (Knowlton, 2010, p.