"I smoke because it empowers me.

As a woman in a hijab, I feel as vulnerable to harassment as when I am not so ‘traditionally-dressed’.

Last semester, I was walking- in hijab and shalwar kameez- when a biker went by, and touched me inappropriately. This incident jolted me on so many levels; it made me realize, had I not been wearing the typical image of a Pakistani girl, which inherently comes off as meek, I would not have had to endure such blatant harassment.

We, as a society, tend to regulate womens' bodies too much and treat them like a sacred communal object rather than a simple flesh suit. So I feel empowered by being able to flout these cultural norms, because you see when the men see a girl defying the alleged etiquette, they think at least twice before harassing her.

It’s all these factors: this womanhood, the cigarette, the dresses, the hijab, the catcalling — these are a lot of things, really, which can overlap — I choose to live in that overlap, to show that I can, to show that I am I, not someone else."