- To combat unwanted attention, harassment and assault from men, many female New Yorkers, have chosen to wear the “Subway Shirt” during their commute on the Subway.
- As ordained by Allah, Muslim women have been wearing loose, outer garments in public for 1400 years. However, the ‘Subway Shirt’ is being welcomed and the Hijab is still deemed as oppressive and primitive by Liberals.
In the bustling city of New York, millions of people rely on public transport to get around. The subway system therefore being a necessity for many. However, the subway also presents safety challenges for women who have to deal with consistent harassment, unwanted attention and assault. As a result, a new trend has emerged among women in the city: the ‘Subway Shirt’. But how did the phenomenon begin and why are women feeling compelled to adopt this safety measure?
The TikTok Trend
Claire Wenrick, the 24 year old Tik Tok star and content creator was about to meet her friend on a hot summer day. She decided to dress in a blue tank top and a camouflage print skirt for the rendezvous. However, prior to leaving for the day, she grabbed an extra-large white T-shirt to cover it all up. It’s a trick she learnt from TikTok: use a large, baggy “subway shirt” to conceal the actual outfit you plan to wear underneath, preventing men from staring. She said, “It’s a way to protect my safety getting from point A to point B, I don’t want to become a target, as weird as that sounds.”
The concept of the “subway shirt” gained traction on TikTok, where women started sharing videos and images of themselves wearing oversized and baggy clothing on the subway. The trend has become a hot topic on social media, as women reveal the “hack” in an attempt to help one another.
The Purpose of the “Subway Shirt”
The main goal of the “subway shirt” is to create a barrier between women and the people around them, making it harder for others to notice their bodies and clothing choices. By wearing an oversized shirt or jacket, women can feel safer and more secure, knowing that they are less likely to be targeted by harassers and potential attackers.
Alarming Crime Rate Increases
New York City has been working to reduce overall crime rates https://www.nyc.gov/site/nypd/news/p00075/nypd-citywide-crime-statistics-february-2023 but the subway system remains a key area of concern. In recent years, crime rates on the subway have shown a troubling uptick, particularly relating to sexual assaults against women. In 2023, reported cases of sexual assault on the subway system rose by 18% compared to the same period in the previous year.
Initiatives to Combat Subway Crime and Harassment
NYPD and MTA Efforts
The New York Police Department (NYPD) and Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) are taking steps to address the issue of crime and harassment on the subway. They have increased law enforcement presence, improved surveillance systems, and launched public awareness campaigns to make the subway safer for all passengers. Additionally, the MTA has introduced a smartphone app that allows passengers to discreetly report incidents.
The Reality for Women on Public Transit
Desensitization to Safety Concerns
Despite the initiatives in place to address subway crime and harassment, many women have become desensitized to feeling unsafe on public transport. The “subway shirt” trend highlights the fact that women have had to adopt the safety measure by revaluating the clothing that they wear in public/on the subway: ’one outfit that can be worn when they step outside their homes, and a very different outfit that can be worn amongst loved ones/with people and places they feel safe’.
Sound familiar?
That’s because it is. Although the “Subway Shirt” isn’t the Muslim woman’s code of dress in its entirety, it has very similar components to it; a loosely fitted garment which does not reveal the shape of the body.
The jilbab/abaya/hijab and modest attire is worn by Muslim women all over the world. This is in order to fulfil the following commandment from Allah (as stipulated in the holy Quran, 33:59):
O Prophet! Tell your wives, and your daughters, and the women of the believers, to lengthen their garments. That is more proper, so they will be recognized and not harassed. God is Forgiving and Merciful.
Translation: Quran Chapter 33 in English. The Confederates. al-Ahzab. Read, Listen, Search, Download. (clearquran.com)
In fulfilling this requirement, Muslim women illustrate a rejection of societal standards that constantly seek to objectify and sexualize all women. This isn’t to suggest that a woman can’t be harassed whilst observing the hijab. However, in Islam, prevention is better than cure, and in the infamous words of our brother, da’ee and Youtuber, Mohammed Hijab- ‘A man cannot feast on that which he does not see’. This, however, is not the reason Muslim women observe the hijab. The hijab is observed simply because it is a commandment ordained by Allah. Muslims believe in Allah alone, and that all commandments from Allah are due to his attributes of Lordship and divinity (Tawhid). Therefore, the Muslim strives towards attaining a relationship of trust and reliance (of man towards his creator).
The research
In an experiment conducted in Brazil, Smart dress reveals three women were groped 157 times in a nightclub experiment | The Sun, a short, figure hugging dress, named ‘The Dress for Respect’ was worn by 3 different women. Sensors were added into the party frock which logged how often, and where, the women were touched on their night out; in just three hours and 47 minutes they had been touched roughly 40 times an hour (157 times in total).
Numerous studies have found that the feeling of being objectified is terrible for the mood, happiness and confidence of a woman. Furthermore, being ogled can make females do worse on math tests. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/our-brains-see-men-as-whole-women-as-parts/
The superiority of Islam
The “Subway Shirt” serves as a spectacular reminder to us all: Islam is morally superior over all other ways of life. It is a reminder that the West has much catching up to do. This of course, can and will only be achieved by trusting and submitting to the will of Allah.
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Thank you for your wonderful blog, May Allah bless you! You are absolutely correct, these subway shirts are similar to the loose fitted abayas that Muslim women wear. Although it is known that it doesn’t indefinitely remove the risk of a sexual attack, a woman can feel more safe with hiding her attractiveness from strange men.
Wonderful job! Keep up the good work.
May Allah continue to guide you and strengthen you in this wonderful work you are doing.
It’s sad that some Muslim women have also been deceived that removing the hijab is liberation, that’s liberation from their morality and safety