L'Oreal Paris made history when it featured model Amena Khan in its new hair product campaign.
Khan, a British beauty blogger, model and co-founder of Ardere Cosmetics, is the first hijab-wearing model to star in a hair campaign for a major international brand.
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She revealed the video campaign to her more than 570,000 Instagram followers last week, calling it a “game changing” project.
On Twitter, L’Oreal and Khan received their share of praise and backlash.
In an interview with Vogue UK published Sunday, Khan lauded the European brand for its commitment to inclusion. "They're literally putting a girl in a headscarf — whose hair you can't see — in a hair campaign ... because what they're really valuing through the campaign is the voices that we have," Khan said.
"You have to wonder – why is it presumed that women that don't show their hair don't look after it?" she said. "The opposite of that would be that everyone that does show their hair only looks after it for the sake of showing it to others. And that mindset strips us of our autonomy and our sense of independence. Hair is a big part of self-care.”
On Twitter, L'Oreal and Khan received their share of praise and backlash.
Great @lorealparis ad about acknowledging that women in hijab also care about their hair... and that there special products they need from serums to special clips... @Loreal https://t.co/lszxwyvqQi
— Muna AbuSulayman منى (@abusulayman) January 18, 2018
Love that @amenaofficial is representing us hijabis. Yes, we do wash our hair. No, we don't shower with it on. No, we don't shave our heads. Some of us are Rapunzel under this hijab and we love a decent shampoo! #hijab #Sisterhood
— Khadijah Hayley (@Khadalina) January 17, 2018
Amazing campaign by Loreal! So HAPPY to see my gal @amenaofficial on a hair commercial. Very empowering😌 💕💕 I get asked a lot why I spend so much on hair care if nobody sees my hair. Well I SEE my hair. Isn't that a good enough reason? https://t.co/TqlebHV6R9
— Jayyida Badhry (@jayyida) January 19, 2018
The campaign reignited a controversial discussion about the hijab, with many arguing that the garment promotes oppression of women.
I guess you never saw the picture of the Iranian women ripping off her #Hijab to show freedom. I’ll never buy @Loreal again. https://t.co/6JT109Rms8
— SeldenGADawgs (@SeldenGADawgs) January 19, 2018
SOME women are stoned for not wearing them. Amena Khan looks beautiful, strong and confident. I don’t think L’Oréal were trying to be “funny” as @Loobona said. I think they were being inclusive and showing regardless of race, colour and size, all women are beautiful.
— Savannah Jade (@Savannah_JH92) January 18, 2018
Last March, when Nike announced its new sports hijab, many Muslim women defended their choice to wear the hijab.
Muslim feminist Hanna Yusuf has also addressed critics of the hijab in the past and said that wearing hers is a feminist statement.
"In a world where a woman's value is often reduced to her sexual allure, what could be more empowering than rejecting that notion?" she said in a video for The Guardian.
But, Yusuf said, her concern with the hijab being unfairly portrayed as oppression is not a denial of the fact that some women are forced to wear it in some parts of the world.
Related: Olympian Ibtihaj Muhammad’s new Barbie doll is the first to wear a hijab
Still, some users felt that including a hijab-wearing model to promote hair products was “#pointless” or was just the company's attempt to make a statement.
I agree, hijab wearers have needs and in most cases take better care of their hair, but I think the ad is trying to put out a statement, not selling a product.
— Abeer Mishkhas عبير مشخص (@Abeer1_mishkhas) January 19, 2018
Khan was also criticized for some of her previous tweets, in which she referred to Israel as a "sinister state." Those tweets have since been deleted.
Amena Khan was chosen by @LOrealParisUK to model for the company’s newest hair product campaign. However, a search of Khan’s Twitter account raises questions about the appropriateness of making her the face of the new campaign. Khan frequently espouses anti-Israel views. pic.twitter.com/ynMQ7dfjXJ
— Aisha Murtad (@UmmAlMumineen) January 19, 2018
For reference, President Donald Trump recently recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital, an action that the United Nations voted to condemn.
For decades, the U.S. has remained silent on the issue, amid warnings from world leaders concerned that such a declaration "could inflame tensions in the volatile Mideast," The New York Times reported. The Palestinians seek East Jerusalem, which Israel captured in 1967, for their capital.
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