Halima Aden Quotes
What I have learned is that designers are willing to tell the world that they are here to empower women from all different backgrounds and different walks of life.
Aden, Halima. Interview by Leah Melby Clinton. Elle, 16 Feb. 2017.
Turkey, the only Islamic nation where women have equal rights, made huge developmental and reform strides immediately after Ataturk reformed Turkish society and gave women the vote, freed them from veils and chadors, educated them and gave them equal employment rights. Turkey moved from an impoverished 3rd world nation to a modern industrialized democracy.
At the time and for the next decade she was one of the few world leaders who made women’s equality and rights a major priority. But slowly American and European women and many men began to give higher priority to using foreign policy and foreign aid. Then women from Asia and Africa began to take up the issue and in the early 21st century even some women in the Islamic nations began to fight for women’s rights. Mrs. Roosevelt. However, was the first modern major and high visibility politician to make women’s rights a major international and national issue.
Although Mao attempted to reform Chinese sexist culture and practice, his and other efforts are taking hold very slowly. Into the 21st century, the Chinese Communist party included women but not at the highest levels where the traditional practice of selecting leaders was to choose elderly males. Part of the prejudice agaist female leaders results from Chinese history where women have ruled or controlled China at several points, but none performed well. This is unlike the experiences of England, India, Israel, and other nations where women have been very successful and respected leaders. There is an American NGO in China, providing assistance to women, which has adopted the name “Half the Sky” and it is the title of a book by Nicholas Kristoff and a record album by Ruby Turner.
Halima Aden is a Somali-American fashion model. She is noted for being the first woman to wear a hijab in the Miss Minnesota USA pageant, where she was a semi-finalist. Following her participation in the pageant, Halima received national attention and was signed to IMG Models. She was also the first model to wear a hijab and burkini in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
