Should Burqa's Be Banned? [View all]
It is a conundrum.
As a feminist I feel a level of ambivalence towards to the Burqa which I find difficult to reconcile.
On one hand, I know many Muslim women, born and raised in the UK, who have made a choice to be fully veiled. Personally, I am not a fan of the Burqa. On a practical level it creates a barrier between the wearer and the rest of society and can have a significant impact on life chances and life choices. However, the women I know have made that choice and they make that choice for a number of reasons, and, be they political or religious surely it is no-ones business if they have chosen such a restrictive attire? As a feminist I fully support another women ability to choose what she wants to wear, and do not need, want or desire any women to have to conform to a community ideal of dress, be it religious or non-religious in nature.
So far, so freedom of choice.
On the other hand, we are all aware of the fact that in many patriarchal Muslim societies and in some homes in the West, wearing a Burqa is not a choice. It is a uniform of purity and piousness that the men in the house use as a means of control and for the subjugation of the females in the family. Not good. Not good at all. As a feminist I want these women to be able to make choices about their apparel, in the same way I can, and all those around me can. For those women banning the Burqa may mean they never leave their houses again, purity and piousness is the name of the game after all. But if we do not challenge the patriarchal power structure at the root of this veiling how will things ever change?
Ban the Burqa and take away a woman's choice?
Ban the Burqa and help promote a woman's freedom?
Told you it was a conundrum!
Thoughts?
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