Nike has made hijabi women the stars of its latest campaign

The sportswear giant released an advert last week featuring women who team traditional clothing with trainers while they run, skateboard and ride horses, sending a powerful message that women should be free to defy societal norms.

The ad from Nike Middle East opens with a women stepping outside wearing a hijab along with Nike’s activewear.

She looks nervous at first, but begins to pick up her pace despite getting glares from passers-by. It then cuts to another woman wearing her hijab while skateboarding down the street, while a female voice narrates in Arabic: “What will they say about you? Maybe they’ll say you exceeded all expectations.”

The advert has caused controversy all over the world since its release last week. Staying fit can be hard for a woman in the Middle East. In Saudi Arabia, physical education is prohibited in all-girls public schools and women’s gyms remain illegal in the kingdom, according to Reuters.

Nike’s advert, which has received more than 1,300,000 views on Youtube since it was uploaded last week, also features professional parkour runner Amal Mourad jumping across rooftops in the rundown suburbs of Dubai.

Source: http://metro.co.uk/2017/02/25/nike-made-muslim-women-the-stars-of-its-empowering-new-advert-6471868/