MGST 453

10163669 Adam Veitch

Situational Transformation
In Mariam Gomaas article written for time magazine (http://ti.me/1xfp1tD) she
discusses the struggles Muslim women face in overcoming stereotypes, fighting the norms of
western societies and the significance of the hijab in Muslim culture. The Islamic faith states that
in most situations women have the personal choice of wearing a headscarf, or a hijab as a way to
distinguish their beliefs and traditionally as an effort to avoid provoking members of the opposite
sex. In this article Gomaa describes women who wear the hijab as being successful and
intellectual leaders who are definitively proud of their identity as Muslim women. However, due
to the pro-stereotypical nature of western media Gomaa even doubted her ow Thheritage when
she entered university. Despite this, Gomaa leads by example when she wears her hijab in public
and encourages other Muslim American women to not tolerate discrimination. In Zalezniks paper
on Managers and Leaders he expands on the traits and actions required to be an effective leader.
One of the ways Zaleznik articulates leadership is explained when he states leadership
inevitably requires using power to influence the thoughts and actions of other people (Zaleznik,
1977). Gomaa fits this idealization like a glove as she uses power through her actions to persuade
fellow Muslim Women to be proud of their heritage, whilst showing Americans that degradation
of a fellow human will not be tolerated.
Throughout the article the speaker states that as a Muslim, she couldnt avoid the
stereotypes that were already set out for her in North America. The media regularly portrays
Islam as a negative or oppressive faith and often scares readers or listeners into believing that
Islamophobia is reasonable. Islamophobia is defined as an exaggerated fear, hatred and hostility
toward Islam and Muslims that is perpetuated by negative stereotypes resulting in bias and

discrimination. In reality the belief of Islamophobia is unjust and an easy way for the media and
the west to push blame onto an entire group of people for certain events that occurred, for
example 9/11. The facts are that only a very small proportion of Muslims in the world are
portraying acts of violence, which is not what Islam teaches Muslims to do as the Quran speaks
of mercy and peace throughout. Zaleznik discusses the ideas of William James and his theory on
the senses of self in his paper. James states that there are two basic personality types, Once-born
and twice-born. Once-born people are those who have had straightforward adjustments and a
more or less peaceful life since birth. On the contrary, twice-born individuals are described as
people whose lives are marked by a continual struggle to attain some sense of order (Zaleznik,
1977). Mariam Gomaa, is an ideal example of someone who has become a twice-born
personality since moving to America. Prior to moving to America, Mariam was immersed in her
own culture and accustom to donning her Hijab, Situationally speaking she was a once-born
personality at this time as she had yet to experience any form of adversity because of her
traditions. However, as soon as she landed in America she confronted the realization that not
fully assimilating into American culture is condemned by many. This is evident when she says I
could pass into whiteness when it seemed convenient (Gomaa, 2014). This exert shows the
personal battle she is facing regarding whether to assimilate or not and is the moment when she
was born again. At that instant, staring herself down in the mirror wrapped in her traditional scarf
scared to leave her room, Mariam realizes that assimilating is not the answer and that theres a
better way of doing things which involves trading the safety of the known for the power and
inspiration of the unknown. This action is characteristic with Zalezniks traits of a leader,
Leaders work from high risk positions, indeed often disposed to seek out risk [] when
opportunity and reward appear high (Zaleznik, 1977). The risk being, wearing her hijab in

public and feeling judged and discriminated against and the reward of being true to her heritage
and beliefs regardless of societal influence and judgement.
Mariam Gomaa made a life changing decision when she decided to wear her hijab for the
first time as a freshmen. At that point she left all doubters and judgmental citizens in the dust.
She evolved from an individual who wasnt ready to confront the realization of being
stereotyped, to a proud and strong woman who didnt even consider the biased views of her peers
and country mates in her everyday life. I believe that the power a simple piece of fabric, as
Gomaa refers to it, possesses is inspiring. This is best summed up when Mariam states [the
hijab] is my way of acknowledging the unique responsibility and burden that people of color
share with respect to teaching others about their identities (Gomaa, 2014).
In conclusion, by writing this article Mariam has brought immense awareness and
empowerment towards the female Muslim community. Furthermore, she has shown how small
events in your life have the potential to bring out your true self, whether that means confronting
your fears or hiding from them. Mariams beliefs and personality are accurately summarized
when Zaleznik states Leaders tend to be twice born personalities [...] their sense of who they are
does not depend on memberships, work roles or other social indicators of identity (Zaleznik,
1977). This exert shows how she abruptly fit into her role as someone who leads by example,
upon moving to America, and how she doesnt need societal recognition to be blissful or feel
accepted, rather she can create that for herself by doing what makes her happy. She is Leading
other women who may be facing similar hardships as she did during her freshmen year and
telling them that you are not alone, you have nothing to be afraid of and most importantly to be
proud of who you are because nothing in this world can take that away from you.

Full Article link: http://time.com/3576827/american-hijab-scarf-sociopoliticalstatement-religion/

References:
http://www.kmcgraphics.com/personal/are-you-once-born-or-twice-born/
Zaleznik, HBR Leaders and Managers 1977.
http://www.pursuit-of-happiness.org/history-of-happiness/william-james/
happiness is created not discovered

Why it is particularly applicable?

Intro difficulty defining once-born twice born and talk about how I want to
interpret it and to illustrate this im going to describe the story of
Conclude by saying difficulty of interpreting once born/twice born
Perhaps use of experience is more useful