The hijab and the attitude of and towards women that it represents differs only in degree from the attitude of very observant Orthodox Jewish women, who wear long skirts, long sleeved garments and wigs because Jewish law requires modest dress, or from the attitude expressed by traditional Amish female dress. People who wear what they consider to be God's uniform do it to mark a distinction between themselves and unbelievers.

I would not care to live as a hasid in Brooklyn or as an Amish in Lancaster County, but one of the freedoms the First Amendment guarantees is the freedom to build your own ghetto in your head and wall yourself off from American society -- as long as you keep the peace and obey the law.

Useem's point is that in this country, as opposed to homogenous Muslim societies, that kind of religious identity is something that you can walk away from if you choose. American culture encourages that kind of individualism. American law makes it good by refusing to recognize or enforce an individual's religious obligations to faith or family.

From her first name I suspect Useem is a convert to Islam. She sounds like the Muslim equivalent of what an Irish friend of mine calls a "cafeteria Catholic," selecting from the teachings of her religion what suits her individually and declining the rest. The daugher of Muslim immigrant parents, raised in an immigrant community, would probably have higher psychological boundaries, but the attractive power of American opportunity will eventually erode the power of tradition.