But now I realize the fear is legitimate. Muslim women are a threat. Any woman who refuses to play the gender games that are so basic to all societies is going to be pushed out. Women have always been expected to play some kind of role in every society. In North America, a great part of this role revolves around sex and the aura of sexuality.
Any relationship involving men and women has some kind of sexual undertone.
When a woman covers herself she is rejecting that role, she is saying sex will have nothing to do with her public life. It is the fact that she has taken out of the discussion her physical self that people find so upsetting. But put her in Hijab so that what makes her a woman cannot be appraised and all of a sudden you are dealing with a person. It is a radical idea not liked by many. This person is not only rejecting preset gender roles but also the associated politics of gender.