[Guest_missmeow_*]

I think it is a woman's right to wear whatever she wants wherever she wants.

If someone wants to wear a Burka knock go for it, if you want to wear a mini skirt go for it. Just because I don't doesn't mean I care.

France should be ashamed and appalled. I pray that no such legislation ever is proposed in Austalia let alone becomes legislation.

[casime]

I don't care what people wear (although as one PP said, showing your undies over the top of your jeans makes me )

I do think they should be prepared to be uncovered in a passport photo and to show their face to prove their identity. All the international airports I have been through will take the woman aside and ask her to show her face to a female officer for identity purposes, and I have no problems with this, as it is a security issue.

[TEN!]

In Afghanistan, where women were forced to wear the burqa, most of them hated it.

In Australia, I think it is a political statement and nothing to do with freedom of religion. Same with France. Good on France for banning something which represents a fundamental rejection of their way of life.

If people seriously want to dress that way, then they should have stayed in countries where it is the norm. I know some wonderful Muslim ladies. None of them wear a hijab, much less a niqab or burqa. Its not a religious requirement.

This post has been edited by Privileged: 07/05/2010, 08:31 AM

[jp123]

Some interesting points to take into consideration: (I have been living in France for 15 months)

France is one of three countries in the world that are technically secular. This is, religion and the state have been very clearly seperated for a long time. It is a consitutional matter and culturally very significant. Many French catholics do not wear the cross for this reason. This also might help explain how the Burqua is seen as not conductive with French way of life.

Also, 7% of France's population is muslim. This is much higher than australia's rate and from my experience living in France, there is a big community divide. With a larger muslim population than here, Burqa wearing is more "in-your-face" than here. I think the overall senitment there is that it goes beyond a small minortiy doing as they please but starts to become a real change in the cultural landscape. The move towards modesty could be seen as a backwards regression from the country that introduced and popularised topless bathing.

Additionally, France's immigration policy is much like a melting pot. Immigrants are expected to integrate and the burqua could possibly be seen as an outward disregard for this concept.

Anyway, I'm not saying that I agree with France's policy (I'm undecided), but as a person who has made a serious attempt and intergrating into the French way of life, I hope i can offer some of my understanding of the cultural ideas behind the policy, and hope that people can look at the issue from France's perspectives, not Australia's.

[niggles]

One thing to be fearful of is the slow chipping away of our liberties and rights.

Amen to that.

Chip, chip...chip, chip.

[~~nik~~]

I really couldn't care less what people where but a random question pops into my head........ If the burka is ok to wear in pubic (banks, airports etc) is it ok to wear a full faced motor bike helmut where the face is also concealed?

6 for one, half a dozen for the other.

[kpingitquiet]

I really couldn't care less what people where but a random question pops into my head........ If the burka is ok to wear in pubic (banks, airports etc) is it ok to wear a full faced motor bike helmut where the face is also concealed?

6 for one, half a dozen for the other.

I suppose that all depends on whether or not the helmet-wearing person in question is a member of an established and recognized helmet-wearing faith. A hobby is not the same as one's religious practice.

[jayare]

From what I know of muslim tradition, growing up in a fairly muslim-heavy area, the purpose of the niqab/veiled-burqa/chadi (the actual face-covering portion of women's clothing) may have begun as a practical measure in sandy/windy environments and was also possibly a way to conceal women of childbearing age, letting them blend with older women, to avoid kidnap when raids were common. It evolved into a commitment to modesty, outlined as very important in the Qur'an as several of Muhummad's wives covered themselves and veiled when in the presence of non-familial men.

It is not uncommon in many orthodox religions to cover one's hair, face, arms, legs, etc. for various reasons. And there are no definitve answers on whether it's God's law or not, of course. Muslim scholars/clerics disagree on the issue amongst themselves. But to many modern muslim women, they feel it is a symbol of their deep love of God and commitment to their faith, just as some nuns see their habits in a similar light, and why many jewish women cover their hair. It removes a sense of vanity, not showing one's face, theoretically allowing more thought-time for religious and family matters.

I don't feel it's my place to agree or disagree with the practice. I do not believe muslim women are more or less likely to commit crimes than any other women in the world. There are a billion ways to conceal one's face for criminal purposes--Anyone see the story on the toilet-paper wrapped robber, this week? Are we going to outlaw tp? I do believe that if we don't start treating muslims as normal, run-of-the-mill people, not suspects, we will do nothing but create more bad will and anger in the population. People have always picked on groups that were somehow different and claimed they were worse than others...Black people, immigrants, Jews, etc...it's never done anything but harm when those feelings remain high in the popular agenda.

well said.

[ForsakenTruth]

In Afghanistan, where women were forced to wear the burqa, most of them hated it.

In Australia, I think it is a political statement and nothing to do with freedom of religion. Same with France. Good on France for banning something which represents a fundamental rejection of their way of life.

If people seriously want to dress that way, then they should have stayed in countries where it is the norm. I know some wonderful Muslim ladies. None of them wear a hijab, much less a niqab or burqa. Its not a religious requirement.

Is that how you feel, or is this just another inflammatory post designed to make people feel as p*ssed off as you?

[Flimsy*But*Fun]

I do think they should be prepared to be uncovered in a passport photo and to show their face to prove their identity. All the international airports I have been through will take the woman aside and ask her to show her face to a female officer for identity purposes, and I have no problems with this, as it is a security issue.

This is reasonable, I think.

Banning an article of clothing seems completely unreasonable. If covering the face is an issue, they should ban beanies and scarves. When I walked the streets of Paris in a November very many years ago, I had a beanie to my eyebrows and a woollen scarf pulled up past my nose! You could only see my eyes.