I started wearing a hijab at 13 when I had my first period. I didn’t face family oppression, but my family is quite conservative, so I had this idea in my head saying, “I have to do this.” Over the years, I realized that my…
Hi, I am writing this letter as I am drowning in my thoughts. I am 17. When I was 14, I was forced to wear a hijab right after I graduated from middle school. My dad talked to me and said if I don’t wear…
Hello. I don’t know where to start telling you my story. I don’t even know how to write from excitement, excuse me, please. I also went to a religious middle school like most of you. My friends and I started covering our hair in the…
Hello, I’m 14 years old and the daughter of a conservative family. I’ve just discovered this website and saw that I’m not alone. I want to write my own story as well. I wanted to wear a headscarf when I was little. All the women…
Actually, my story is similar to most of your stories. I’m the daughter of a religious family. In the beginning, I performed my religious duties gladly—I had memorized the Quran; I was a girl who abided by the commands and prohibitions of the religion. Then…
There are lots of women who are exposed to swearing and unmentionable words because of the religious pressure. I mention the pressure of the families and relatives who force their girl to wear headscarf. I wish I could a fairy and change the life of…
I am one of those who walk alone. Some people say, ”My eyes used to shine with joy, but something bad just happened.” I don’t know where to start my story. Should I tell you about how my dream of a music career ended before…
Hello everyone, this is my second time writing here. The first one’s title was ‘ We followed YouTube channels like Sözler Köşkü, Hayalhanem during our veiling period.’ If you have read that, you would know how everything went well, and I didn’t have a problem regarding…
When they asked, ‘’What will you be when you grow up?’’ I always said, ‘’I will be a headscarfed grocery store owner.’’ I mean, I would say that ‘’I will be headscarfed when I grow up’’, then I suppose I could be a grocery store…
I have been following this page for a long time. I covered up my hair intentionally in the 8th grade. My mother would never let me wear trousers, and I said, ‘’If I can’t even wear pants, then I have to cover myself’’. At that…
I had two friends in hijabs. I was so emulating them; they were dressed well. Just because I emulated them, I was thinking about wearing the hijab. Then last year, my brother died. I felt empty at the time, and religion was like a door…
Hello. I have been following this page since the first day. I need to pour my heart out. Maybe it will help someone in need of that. When I was little, I was sexually assaulted a couple of times. I got four years of psychological…
Hello, I am 19 years old. My brother forced me to become a hijabi after the 8th grade. He suddenly became a religious extremist and started to interfere with everything in the house. He would unplug the TV while I was watching it, saying, “What…
It gives me a sense of comfort that this page shows that I’m not alone. I feel like I live in Saudi Arabia when I live in Germany. My family is religious; my neighborhood is even more religious. Only Turks live in my neighborhood; everyone…
Hi, I’m a 17-year-old high school student. I wore a hijab in secondary school with enthusiasm and as a necessity of studying at a religious school. It was mandatory to go to school with ferace and headscarf; otherwise, you couldn’t check into it. I swore…
Hello, my story is like everyone here. There’s a terrifying father, a mother who obeys everything, and a girl who’s been decided on her behalf, who’s never been asked what she wants in this story. I’ve been wearing a hijab since the beginning of the…
Why do we have to deal with it? Why do we have to keep fighting for our rights while we are the only responsible ones for our bodies and who we meant to be? Tragically, we need this platform. I wish we didn’t have to…
I took my middle school education at a religious school solely because of my parents’ decision that didn’t deem my opinion as worthy. We are three sisters, but I’m the only one who is being educated religiously. My elder sister and little sister do not…
Whenever I feel bad, you are the first thing that comes to my mind. I was physically alone, but I had close friends whom I’ve never seen, that I whispered my secrets to, sometimes felt closer than myself that are kilometers away. My only purpose…
Hello, It still feels weird to be writing on this platform; it feels like a dream, although it isn’t. Before I started high school, I began to wear a hijab entirely voluntarily. I didn’t think there was something wrong about it as everyone around me…
Hello, I am Tuğçe. I want to tell you guys about my life and how I feel. After studying in the Child Development department in high school, I suddenly decided to be a theologian – even though I wasn’t a woman who wears a headscarf,…
I was going to an Imam Hatip School1 when I was in middle school, which was the only reason I wore a headscarf. I was influenced by the people I met there. I covered my hair for the first time when I was in the…
Hello, A long time ago, I wrote a letter saying that I wanted to stop wearing a hijab, but I was waiting for college. I thought I could make people used to it and get less reaction, but it didn’t take me long to understand…
Last night, I realized so much. If I were to summarize it in one sentence, I realized that my father considered me worthless. I resisted this thought; I tried a lot to think otherwise, but, in the end, I couldn’t make him love me. I…
Let me start telling my story by introducing myself. I am an 18-year-old university student. This year I got into a university with a good grade that is in another city. I grew up as an only girl in a family with many children. Since…
I just want to show my talents, not to die! Hello, now I’m going to bare to you a little bit. I’m 16 years old and have been wearing a headscarf for about 3 years. I don’t want to be veiled. Although I have repeatedly…
Hello! I’m an atheist devotee. Let me explain for those who wonder what devoutness is; devotee is the name given to the members of the Naqsbandi order. When I was 14-15 years old, my father forced me and my brothers to be a member of…
I’ve been reading your letters on this website for a few hours, you are so much like me. I was also forcibly made to wear a headscarf. I guess my situation was a little worse than yours. I wore a headscarf in the 3rd grade…
My family is okay, but what about other people? Hello, I’m writing here for the first time. I’m 16 years old. I’ve grown up captiously on many issues such as religion, respect, manners and morality. I was sent to mosques since the 4th grade to…
Hello, I gathered all my courage and decided to write. When I was in 5th grade, my father became an imam and my mother got in the hijab after this. I was put in the hijab in 6th grade when I haven’t had my period…
How do the stories of most of us begin? A conservative family, an authoritarian father. Mine was a little more than this. We are living in a family apartment, with 4 nuclear families. What I wear, how I leave the house is criticized not only…
I’m a person who got in the hijab at the age of 11 by being influenced by her best friend. My family didn’t pressure me on this issue, but they also didn’t say “Don’t do it, you’re too young.” I have been veiled as long…
Hello my sisters, I’ll get straight to the point. All of the women in my family and relatives were veiled in their adulthood, it would be what happens when they reach a certain age. There were always this pressure on me; constant words and insinuations……
Hello, I have been following this page for a long time and I am incredibly happy for them who achieve what they want when I read their stories. While I thought I was the only one experiencing this oppression, a friend of mine told me…
I don’t know how to start, first hello everyone! I will also tell my story. There was a short time left to start high school, and my family was constantly pressuring me to be a hijabi. They were constantly interfering with my clothes and I…
I voluntarily covered my hair at high school. I wanted to take my headscarf off two weeks after that, but I was afraid of public pressure. I was worried about what my friends would say. I said to myself, “I will uncover my hair again…
I also want to share my story with you. I was 11 years old when I began to wear a headscarf. When I turned 12, my clothes started to make me unhappy, which became the reason I stopped going out. My father told me, “You…
It’s been almost one year since I took off my headscarf, but this was very hard for me to do. My family always expected me to wear a headscarf. I did it because I wanted to make them happy. I was so little, in my…
As someone tired of expressing her thoughts only to herself, I want to talk openly here. Although I am wearing a headscarf, I don’t define myself as a veiled woman; my style and makeup don’t comply with the Islamic understanding of a veiled woman. My…
I already sent a letter that tells my story. Comments were saying that I’m lying about what I said. Interesting, isn’t it? I’m writing about my life here. Those who force their daughters to wear a headscarf try and treat me like the things I…
I grew up in a conservative, well-known family. A kindergarten that raises religious, Qur’an courses that go every summer from primary school 1, weekly evening conversations in secondary school… I grew up with a classical conservative child raising method. I always knew I was going…
Browsing this site can mean many things. It may be to wonder others’ stories, find a piece of yourself, and hate, but to wonder. I used to stand silently and read one by one to reach my inner world in others’ stories, or with the…
I write to encourage others. Like everyone else, I grew up in a conservative family. Even though I did not experience any pressure to wear a headscarf, I had a lot of pressure on a disguise. University is over, and I started working life. When…
God, did you really create me as a slave? Unfortunately, this is not a success story. I was born in an extremely conservative family, which had gotten into a cult long before I was born. Although they don’t do everything right, criticize everyone they think…
I’m 19 years old; I was 14 when I started wearing a headscarf and 7 when I was told I should do my prayers. I remember my first prayers clearly. The eagerly performed prayers with my sister and the happiness when our mother gifted us…
One cannot know where to begin such a story. I feel like betraying the pain I’ve felt, the contradictions I’ve got into when unwritten. Like most of the others, my story started with the pressure I had experienced during my childhood. I couldn’t wear tight…
I was terrified of menstruation. I was born in a conservative, right-wing, religious, and even bigot family in such a country. I often think about what could be worse in a person’s life. I was going to Qur’an courses every summer, which started at the…
Hello. I am 22 years old. After having spent 4 years veiled, I am one of those who have decided to unveil themselves. First of all, I congratulate you. If only I could encounter a platform like this back when I decided to unveil. Yet…
I’m a 29-year-old woman, and I’ve been wearing a headscarf for 10 years. I read some of the stories written here. My story is a little bit different. I grew up in a family where my mother’s side was left-wing, and my father’s side was…
I’m the daughter of a conservative family. I was brought up with religious teachings; of course, it felt like it was the only truth at the time because you don’t see anything different. I was veiled in high school due to my own will, my…
Hello. I am 21 years old woman going to the university and trying to stand on my own feet. I am the oldest child of a family from the Southeast and their only daughter. I want to start with my father, who made my childhood…
I am 36 years old, I went to high school in Anatolian Imam Hatip High School*. I learned both critical thinking and good English there. On the other hand, I learned that my voice was forbidden to men. I was a sinner because I was…
The headscarf is a cultural symbol imposed by men rather than religion on our land. I had been thinking of taking it off for 3 years. Yet, because of social pressure, I kept distracting myself, “Maybe you think wrongly, try to love.” I did not…
Are this society and this mentality hostile to the female body that I have, or is it an enemy to me? Hello to everyone. Let me start by introducing myself. I am a 20-year-old, alive, and kicking young girl with high energy. I experienced an…
I don’t want this, I don’t even know why I cover my hair anymore. I used to think this was just how it was supposed to be, this was the right thing to do, and I shouldn’t have thought otherwise. Thus I covered my hair…
A father who does not even think of sending his children to primary school, almost every person around him, is a religious educator. Fortunately, I was able to go to primary school. At that time, my mother was utterly on my father’s side. I was…
The pressure that started verbally in primary school increased even more when my father hit me in 6th grade and forced me to wear the hijab. From the first day, I wear the hijab, my self-confidence was destroyed, I did not want to go anywhere,…
I grew up in a very conservative family as a girl with 5 brothers. When I finished secondary school, they brought a headscarf requirement to go to high school, and I had to accept it. When high school was over, they told me that I…
I did not read most of the letters on your website, I know you from the articles of Büşra Cebeci. I did not read the articles because they push me to despair. Other women have faced such difficult situations. Some got what they wanted, but…
Hello. I think my story has a dramatic start and a happy ending. At least, I hope it is. I have a family that can be considered conservative in its own right. I veiled at a very young age. This was the whole circle of…
I’m 18 years old. I met with the headscarf when I was in 5th grade, and at that time, I was 11 years old. According to Islam, individuals who are not in puberty are not responsible for the religious requirements. As an 11-year-old child, I…
Hi. I just discovered this platform and I really liked it. First, I’d like to talk about why I wore the hijab and my current state of belief. I went to Imam Hatip (religious school) in middle school with my own will. My friends were…
Hello everyone. I don’t know where to start, there are so many things that have accumulated inside me. I would always love to explain these to someone or write them somewhere, but unfortunately, I didn’t have any sister or a friend that I can feel…
Hello there. I’ve read almost all of the letters posted on this page and now I regret a little bit for being in a dilemma about whether to write or not. I’m 17 years old now, third year of high school. I’ve been wearing a…
To live, according to what or who? Our thoughts are the biggest thing that makes us who we are. If we had no thoughts, there wouldn’t be any difference between us and animals. Also, if we do things that other people force us to do,…
Hi, my story is like many of yours. Throughout my childhood, sometimes my father and sometimes my uncle put a veil on my head, and they imposed this idea on me by saying “How beautiful you are in hijab”. My mother always pressured me by…
Hello, I accidentally discovered your website today, and as I read what people who are so much like me went through, I spent the whole day reading your website. I’ve been reading since yesterday. I’m really glad that you are so supportive of each other.…
Can you hear the wind? It approaches calmly and silently. My eyelids are starting to open; my numb and dry glances hit against the damp and wet walls… I lift my head, unaware of anything. Every mirror I show my face breaks, I stand up…
I discovered this platform about a year ago. It was around the time I was searching for people to share my emotions with as I was looking for a way out from the suffocation of this hijab during my preparations for the university entrance exam.…
I’m a 20-year-old college student. Under pressure from my parents, I wore hijab the day I started high school, and I have lost my own identity since. I’m not myself anymore. I did not wear hijab for God’s sake for once in five years. My…
I’m the first child of the house and I have two brothers. Ever since I was little, my relationship with my mother was never good. I would always say that she loves me, but she doesn’t show it; it was hard for me to face…
I had written here 2 years ago when I was 17. For the first time in years, despite all the oppression, I did something for myself: took my hijab off. When there is no one who have gone through the same things you are going…
This is a letter of struggle. I come from a family which think that they are religious. I always resisted their coercions about my veiling, but when I was placed to a university my father said, “either you cover your hair or else I won’t…
This is a platform I’ve been following for almost 2 years. This is a platform I look up sometimes to cry and sometimes to be filled with hope. In 2 years, I saw how my closest ones can hurt me. I’ve been shunned from my…
Hello, I’ve been following this site for a long time, but I couldn’t find the strength to write. But now, I can write because I believe that I can’t feel any worse than this. I was born into a Muslim family. When I was going…
Hello everyone. Writing here was not in my mind, but after I saw the posts, I wanted to write, as well. I became a hijabi in 8th grade with my own will. It was allowed to wear hijab in my school, for that reason, I…
Hi, I am 28 years old and I took my headscarf off 2 years ago. My veiling story has begun after I had my child. I got married, by my choice, when I was 18. Don’t be mad that I got married at an early…
Hi. I was watching a YouTube video about unveiling and someone recommended me this platform. I didn’t realize before that there were so many people sharing the same story. It was the summer of 5th grade that I decided to cover my hair at an…
Hi there, there is no way out in my story. I shouldn’t be pessimistic about my situation, but I don’t know what to do either. When I was only 4 years old my parents sent me to special daycares where they would teach religious doctrines.…
Hi. I am writing because, you know what, everything that connects me to life flew away one by one. I am someone who has been to religious boarding schools since age of 6 and who had been made to wear headscarf- even before getting my…
I’m only 16 years old but I wanted to write to you because my story feels similar. I’ve been forbidden from having any contact with boys since I was 4 or 5. If I were to hold a boy’s hand, I’d be accused of harlotry…