Spooky clothing

[humaira_abedin]

Neelam’s tune shows that she’s not questioning her position in being courted by a man, but instead is affirming her position that she has an ultimate choice at the end to make her own judgments to accept or decline a man’s advancements, and how she lives her life. The lines “I done came through bondage now that I’m free
I won’t get stuck in a chain with another lame
Going insane cuz he wore a chain
Limit my range cuz he drove a range” speaks to how she has the authority of being stuck in a chain or not, which can be connected to histories of black people’s enslavement who had their agencies compromised by slave owners. Their people have gone through enough, and so she tries to ensure that the pattern of living under the submission of another person, especially men under women does not happen again by expressing to not repeat the dynamics with another person (a partner).

The turbaned and hijab experience in the security shuffle speaks about how these religious elements on a person's body, is looked as a signal to interrogate and butt into people’s business. As the song says, people who have security related jobs try to rob their sense of modesty to validate their own fears. The “religious persons’” sense of humanity must be up for discussion for people who feel unsafe, therefore it is legitimate and reasonable to poke at their identity and feelings. In the song, when “Mr Singh” is said, and it is said through a voice of superiority, and of intimidation. The name in itself becomes a threat for them, so to show that their name is not something they can be intimidated by, they say that name in an overpowering voice. Kind of reminds me of how society has done the same with the name Karen. It’s not just a name. It symbolizes something, something very annoying. And people have taken that name to describe: annoyance, racism, entitlement etc. It is now used to gain power over the white woman.