Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

On October 11, 2001, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that "a growing number of Muslim women in St. Louis say they choose to wear scarves...to define their sexuality on their own terms...Many women who choose to cover themselves consider aspects of Western culture oppressive - starving to be thin, buying creams to look young and dressing to attract men...Several Muslim women said other people have been surprised to learn that they choose freely to don the hijab and aren't forced into it."