Posted by popkitchen | Filed under politics
dude crush@Flickr
First time I encountered women fully covered in black cloth, was in London. I will admit, in that moment, during a passing-by on the street, I felt a little bit at unease. I am waiting for the theorists-on-call to tell me that I encountered the Other, from whom I did not know what to expect. As well as that burka (which is the name of this garment) actually proves that an identity (the visual one, face as a marker of gender and age) is a construct, as with people dressed this way you can not really tell the difference. Could have been the place I was at, as though I felt “white men’s burden”, thinking how can we judge and regulate the culture we do not know nothing about, especially as we are so proud of human rights and democracy, then we just have to swallow the uneasiness we feel around fully veiled women.
pooyan@flickr
Criticism, as well as calls to ban the veil, come from people on the right (I could only imagine how
via Religious Fashion
uneasy they feel) and who would like to stand with the right-wing people and their values. I have two objections to the case, from my own experience. They are more of a questions then outright calls for the ban. While visiting a primary school in West London, I noticed 10-year old girls wearing the hijab. Well, that’s not a free choice, it is a result of growing up in families that respect those rules. Also, what if I decide to visit Iran, Jemen or Saudi Arabia during summer and wear my traditional clothes, consisting of shorts and flip flops, no covers included. After all, that is a part of my cultural tradition.
It remains to be seen what will happen with the proposal of the French MPs to ban the full veil on public places. Considering the severity of articles of Sharia Law, do Muslims have the right to object, Ray Hanania, American of Palestinian origin is asking on his blog Palestine Note.
Me, I am waiting for some entrepreneur to launch hijab or burka, as a luxury good, the latest fashion must-have. I am already seeing Lady GaGa’s next video.
Tags: ban, burka, islam
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January 27, 2010
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