What's the Stitch? The Issue With Balaclavas
By Kayla Lupoli
Winter 2021 was the season of the balaclava. The fashion accessory rose to new heights on Instagram with crochet and knitting accounts creating them almost daily. The popularity of the accessory didn’t come without issues—and for good reason. While balaclavas are trending, it raises the question of why hijabs are not and resurfaces the age-old debate on the double standards within fashion.
First things first, what is a balaclava? If you don’t know what they are, balaclavas are head coverings that go over hair and part of the face to keep you warm. A lot of snowboarders and skiers wear them to keep their faces from getting too cold. Functionally speaking, the accessory isn’t problematic. In fact, it’s actually helpful for a lot of people who want to protect their faces. Even more, it isn’t problematic when people try to make balaclavas more fun or fashionable.
The problem arises when we contrast the increasing popularity of balaclavas with the othering of hijabs, a sartorial counterpart.
With a change in context and model, comes a change in public perception. A classic case of double standards if you ask me—and not one exclusive to balaclavas and hijabs. For instance, thin women in streetwear are embraced for looking relaxed whereas fat women are criticized for looking frumpy. Or when chopsticks are used in hair instead of at the dinner table. It certainly is not cultural appreciation nor borrowing if those photographed and walking down the runway are white.
I digress.
Back to balaclavas. Take Kim Kardashian at the 2021 MET Gala when she wore a full facial and body covering outfit. There were plenty of articles and headlines the next day about how she “sold” the look. In other words, she gave it value and made it cool. Now compare that to Ilhan Omar who is harassed for wearing her hijab on a daily basis. One look at Representative Omar’s Twitter replies shows the constant harassment that she faces simply for expressing her religion.
When we introduce social media into this equation, the issue becomes even more complex. Balaclavas have become huge on Instagram and Tiktok. Not only have crochet and knitting accounts created patterns for balaclavas, but there are also plenty of videos teaching watchers how to turn a scarf into a balaclava—and they appear strikingly similar to tutorials about turning scarves into hijabs. This Tiktok from @laurenblackborrow is a prime example. Comments on the video called her out on how she was essentially teaching her watchers how to wear a hijab.
These influencers are often seen as trendy while Muslim women are treated completely different. @Malihaness calls this double standard out in a Tiktok of her own. The video starts with an audio saying “Gorgeous gorgeous girls wear balaclavas. Gorgeous gorgeous girls avoid the dramas.” Maliha follows this up by saying, “Not if you’re a black young man, because then it’s called a hood and you can murdered by the cops. Not if you’re a Muslim woman, because you will get hate crimed. On a good day, you will lose your job. On a bad day, you will get stabbed. But if you’re a skinny caucasian woman, you get to go down as a fashion icon.”
The thing is, Maliha is right.
Us, white non-practicing Muslim, women will never know what it’s like to experience the things Muslim women go through to wear their hijabs. If we wanted to, we could wear the balaclava for the winter season then donate it to Goodwill when the next trend comes around. We have the privilege to wear it for a season either as an experiment of expression or to be in vogue.
I can only speak from the perspective of a white, non-practicing woman, but if I can see the issue with balaclavas I’m sure plenty of others can as well. Just scrolling through my Instagram discovery page and noticing white crochet and knitting accounts creating balaclava patterns is nothing short of weird. It feels as if these accounts are stepping around the term hijab simply to stay on trend—which raises the question of why? It shouldn’t be hard to remind people from where the inspiration comes.
Can you see why there is (deserved) controversy around this accessory?
What these women should be doing is listening to Muslim women who are calling them out. They should listen and learn about the meaning behind a hijab. They should be educating themselves on something that is important to a lot of people—and it shouldn’t have to fall on Muslim women to educate all of these balaclava wearers on why it might be problematic.
At the end of the day, balaclavas are not inherently problematic. But most things are not in a vacuum. It becomes problematic when power dynamics, religious intolerance, and colorism are added to the equation. Individuals who are not Mulsim should look at their choice of headwear with a critical eye. They should recognize that they have the privilege of being able to dawn certain items without being judged or harmed. There isn’t anything wrong with realizing you have privilege, but you should know that’s why you might be seen as fashionable.