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Sports hijab allows Muslim female athletes to cover up

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Summary of story by Yahoo News!, September 13, 2011

An Iranian-born Candian designer has come up with a new take on the traditional hijab which Muslim women can wear to keep cool and cover up their hair while practicing sports.

Introducing iQO’s ResportOn, a custom-made sports hijab constructed from an antiperspirant fabric which is slipped over the head like a balaclava and fastened at the back.

The idea for the ResportOn first came to Elham Seyed Javad, 27, after five young Muslim women were barred from a taekwondo tournament in Montreal when their traditional headdress was branded as ‘dangerous’.

Since the ResportOn’s launch in November 2010, the garment has seen interest from over 170 cities across the globe, with fans including athletes, nurses, race car drivers – and even the Iranian women’s football team.

  1. Terri says:

    Ridiculous!

  2. Terri, it is beyond ridiculous, uncomfortable and confining.

  3. I disagree. If women live in cultures where they are expected to wear the hjiab, or if they have chosen to do so themselves, would we rather they were just unable to play sport? Although it looks uncomfortable to me, and the restrictions to your side vision wouldn’t exactly be ideal if somone was coming at you with a hockey stick, I’d rather women could wear this and participate, than be completely excluded.

    The only downside I can think of is that women who would normally wear the hijab, but don’t do so when playing sport, might have pressure put on them to wear this. School pupils, for example. But I don’t have any evidence for this, so it’s hardly an argument.

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