Taleb: Let’s not be modest about the truth

People will always judge appearance

Just recently, France was dealing with the burkini ban debate. Several cities were attempting to ban the burkini, which is basically a swimsuit that Muslim women wear that covers their whole body (excluding hands and feet) and their hair. It’s akin to a diver’s suit.

A famous Muslim fashion blogger who goes by the name Dina Tokio (check her out—she’s outrageously hilarious) did a rant on video about how she felt about the burkini ban attempt. She explained that she was once called out for wearing a burkini, when in actuality, she was sporting a cycling top, leggings and cycling shorts over the leggings. In other words, not even a burkini to begin with.

“You’re banning a woman from covering herself,” she says in her video.

You’re banning people from wearing what they want. From being who they are.

But this incident in France is just a reflection about what happens every day. I believe that, no matter what, people judge you for what you’re wearing.

Our culture tends to consider people’s bodies (and even more specific, women’s bodies) as public property. Our bodies are treated like the construction site on Mather Quad—I judge that ugly construction site so hard, almost every day.

The only difference between that construction site and a body is that the construction site is a space we all share. But my body is mine, and your body is yours.

The burkini ban controversy was an incident that really hit home for me because I’m a woman who dresses differently. I wear a hijab (in a turban-style) and I tend to cover most of my body. Growing up, I spent a lot of time thinking about how I look to others and kept rethinking the choices that I made about my own body, only to realize that this shouldn’t be a worry at all.

When it comes to fashion, the only opinion that matters is yours. If you feel like you look good and you feel comfortable in your outfit, then you look good. Case closed.

(And just a note: It doesn’t really matter what we put on our bodies because the best thing we will ever wear in our lives is confidence).