( CNN ) -- Rowaida Abdelaziz does n't want your pity . Rowaida Abdelaziz says wearing the hijab sometimes interferes with usual U.S. teenager activities , but that it 's worth it to her faith . She does n't want your frosty public stares ; the whispers behind her back ; the lament that she 's been degraded by her father . What the Muslim high school senior wants you to understand is that she does n't wear the hijab , the head scarf worn by Muslim women , because she is submissive . `` It represents beauty to me , '' says Abdelaziz , the 17-year-old daughter of two Egyptian parents living in Old Bridge , New Jersey . `` My mom says a girl is like a jewel , '' Abdelaziz says . `` When you have something precious , you usually hide it . You want to make sure you keep it safe until that treasure is ready to be found . '' The nation has heard plenty of debate over racial profiling . But there 's a form of religious profiling that some young Muslim women in America say they endure whenever they voluntarily wear the hijab . The hijab , also known as the veil , is the headscarf worn by Muslim women around the globe . It 's a simple piece of cloth , but it can place young Muslim women in Western countries in difficult situations . Some hijab-wearers say that strangers treat them as if they 're terrorists . Others ask them if they 're a nun -- or even allergic to the sun . In some cases , their worst critics are not Americans , but fellow Muslim Americans . The pressure on Muslim teenagers in the U.S. who wear the hijab may be even more acute . Their challenge : How do I fit in when I wear something that makes me stand out ? Randa Abdel-Fattah , who has written two novels about this question , says wearing the hijab can `` exhaust '' some young Muslim women in the West . `` You can sometimes feel like you 're in a zoo : locked in the cage of other people 's stereotypes , prejudices and judgments , on parade to be analyzed , deconstructed and reconstructed , '' says Abdel-Fattah , a Muslim who has Palestinian and Egyptian parents but was born in Australia . Abdel-Fattah says people should not assume that Muslim women who wear the hijab are being controlled by men . She , too , struggled with the choice of wearing a hijab when she was a teenager . `` When it comes to the hijab -- why to wear it , whether to wear it , how to wear it -- there is theology and then there is practice and there is huge diversity in both , '' says Abdel-Fattah , author of `` Does My Head Look Big in This ? '' The surprising history behind the hijab . Some women say the hijab makes them feel like they 're locked in a cage . But others say it leads to personal freedom . Sarah Hekmati first wore the hijab at age 15 growing up in Detroit , Michigan . She is the daughter of Iranian parents who left Iran in 1979 during the Islamic revolution . Hekmati says the hijab liberated her from some teenage angst : Does my hair look good ? Am I cute enough ? Should I lose weight ? `` It gave me a sense of identity , '' she says . `` I really liked the purpose behind the hijab -- a woman covering herself so that a man should know her for her mind , not her body . '' That purpose can be traced back to the Quran , Islam 's holy text , which encourages women to dress modestly , says Faegheh Shirazi , author of `` The Veil Unveiled . '' Some Muslims take the Quran 's advice as a command for women to wear the hijab , while others disagree , she says . `` The Quran is very ambiguous about whether you have to wear the veil or not , '' Shirazi says . The hijab , however , actually predates Islam , Shirazi explains . The first known reference to veiling ( Shirazi uses the term hijab and veil interchangeably ) was made in an Assyrian legal text in the 13th century B.C. , Shirazi says . In the Assyrian , and later , the Roman and Byzantine empires , the veil was a symbol of prestige and status , she says . By the 12th century , the veil had been imposed on women in the Muslim world to exclude them from public life , Shirazi says . `` A sign of distinction had been transformed into a sign of exclusion , '' she writes in her book . People are still debating the meaning of the hijab today . In 2007 , British Muslim groups protested when schools were given the right to ban students from wearing full-face veils . In 2008 , Turkey 's top court upheld a ban on wearing Muslim headscarves at the country 's universities . That same year , a Muslim woman was briefly jailed at a suburban Atlanta , Georgia , courthouse after refusing to remove her hijab in court . Some moms against hijab wearing . The debate over the hijab can literally hit home for some young Muslim women . Those that wear the hijab in the United States can befuddle their mothers , who often immigrated to the West so they could be free from wearing the hijab and other rules imposed on women . That 's what happened to Hekmati , the Muslim-American from Detroit . Her mother , Behnaz , was puzzled by her daughter 's decision to wear the hijab . Behnaz Hekmati grew up in Iran , where she did not wear the hijab . Young women who attended college in Iran like she did generally did n't wear the hijab , she says . Behnaz Hekmati warned her daughter that wearing the hijab would arouse the suspicion of Americans . `` I said Sarah , when you cover your head here the people think you are political -- they see you differently , '' Behnaz Hekmati says . Most of the trouble , though , came from Iranian-Americans , who came to the United States to escape the Islamic fundamentalists who seized power in 1979 , she says . `` The Iranians here bother her more than Americans , '' Behnaz Hekmati says . `` They say , 'We got rid of you guys . We came here because we did n't want to see you guys anymore . ' '' Hekmati was more concerned as a teenager about more personal issues , like her relations with boys . The hijab made it more difficult , she says . Few asked her on dates . Guys always seemed to put her in the `` friend category . '' She wondered if she was attractive . `` I wondered at times : Am I always going to be a guy 's friend and nothing more . '' Strangers in public saw her as something else -- a subjugated woman . They looked at her with pity , she says . Some were just baffled . `` One guy asked me if I was allergic to the sun , '' Hekmati says . Abdelaziz , the New Jersey high school senior , also had her tense public encounters : angry looks , people feeling sorry for her or assuming her father ordered her to wear the hijab . `` It 's not oppression ; it 's not that I 'm accepting degradation -- it 's about self-respect , '' she says . But it 's more about faith as well . She says the hijab affirms `` Islam in the most respectful and purified way . '' `` When you actually wear it , it opens your eyes , '' she says . `` It makes you want to explore your religious faith . '' At times , Abdelaziz says she wonders what it would be like to attend her prom , get a tan at the beach and have a boyfriend . But she says her decision to honor her faith is already paying off . `` It really feels good , '' she says . `` It felt like I was missing something and now I 'm complete . I finally understand my purpose . ''
The second is the head scarf worn by Muslim women . Having one as a young teenager in the U.S. may offer benefits . Some wearers say they get strange looks and sometimes angry remarks . But those who voluntarily wear it say it can help them in their faith and teen life .