A Muslim American journalist has become the first woman to wear a hijab in Playboy’s 63-year history.
Newsy reporter Noor Tagouri is featured in Playboy’s “Renegades of 2016” issue, dedicated to men and women who have broken barriers and “risked it all — even their lives — to do what they love,” according to the magazine.
Playboy describes Ms. Tagouri as a “badass activist” whose goal is to become the first hijab-wearing news anchor in the country.
“As a badass activist with a passion for demanding change and asking the right questions, accompanied by beauty-ad-campaign looks, Tagouri forces us to ask ourselves why we have such a hard time wrapping our minds around a young woman who consciously covers her head and won’t take no for an answer,” Playboy states.
The West Virginia-born journalist told the magazine that she would consider herself a success if she could get girls to “realize they can do anything they want without having to sacrifice who they are as a person.”
“I may dress a little different — I’m a reporter who happens to wear a head scarf and I live in my hoodie — but being a storyteller, motivational speaker, entrepreneur and unapologetically myself has opened so many doors for thousands of people,” Ms. Tagouri, 22, said.
“I recently had a mom come up to me and tell me that her daughter is in the 6th grade and had just started wearing the hijab,” she continued. “She shared how a lot of the other girls tease her and put her down because of the hijab. She went on to tell me that her daughter watches all of my videos and every time she gets picked on, she pulls up my Instagram or tells them to ‘google Noor Tagouri and then talk to me.’”
Playboy’s feature on Ms. Tagouri has been met with some backlash, but she said she doesn’t pay it any attention.
“It’s just negative energy and unhealthy,” she said. “I make sure to keep a great circle of people around me who keep me grounded. Whether it’s at work or at home, the people who have my best interest at heart voice their concerns and their critiques, and I work on them. Besides that, I just do the best I can to not worry about people who get upset because they don’t like something that I wear or say.”
Playboy announced last year that it was ending its nude photographs in exchange for in-depth journalism.
Other “renegades” included in the series are comedian Ali Wong, Against Me! frontwoman Laura Jane Grace, sex activist Stoya, pro skateboarder Jason Dill, novelist Paul Beatty and video game developer Sean Murray.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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