goodstuffhappenedtoday:The other contestants in the Miss Minnesota USA pageant wore revealing swimsu
goodstuffhappenedtoday:The other contestants in the Miss Minnesota USA pageant wore revealing swimsuits.She came out in a burkini — head-to-toe swimwear — and a hijab, the traditional Muslim head covering.Halima Aden, a 19-year-old Muslim from St. Cloud, Minn., wanted to compete on her terms. She wasn’t sure how the pageant would react to her request to wear a burkini. “I prepared myself to hear ‘no,’ ” she says. “But I was hoping they’d say ‘yes.’ So when they did allow me to wear a burkini, I was so thrilled.”Aden’s family is originally from Somalia. She was born in the Kenyan refugee camp of Kakuma, where her parents had fled in the 1990s, and came to the U.S. when she was 6. She made it to the top 15 semifinals in the beauty pageant — and made history. No one in the Minnesota contest had competed in a burkini and a hijab.Her pageant bid drew worldwide support — and criticism as well. We spoke with Aden about her decision to dress according to her Muslim values.How did it feel to wear a burkini with all the other contestants dressed in revealing swimsuits?I thought this was the perfect time to represent myself as a Muslim woman and encourage other girls to live their life with conviction and not to be scared. To represent a population where women do dress like that especially with all that’s happened [banning the burkini in towns in France] and so many girls feeling scared to wear their hijab.What was the reaction when you walked onstage in your burkini?I was literally blown away, when I had all the cheering. I was like, “Work it!” I felt so confident. I’ve never been that comfortable ever in my life.More at the link. -- source link