Burqas, Niqabs and Chadors- Oh My!

I'm so on-the-fence about this. I don't believe the government should tell people what they can and can't wear. Banning women from showing too little should call for another ban on women for showing too much, in my opinion. However, I work in a bank, and knowing your customer/recognizing your customer/being able to properly identify your customer is absolutely necessary and and essential part of my job. If I cannot identify my customer properly, it's my decision whether or not to refuse their transaction. I also believe that religion and culture-specific practices should stay within the home and place of worship, and not in public. Then again, I'm thinking that goes against basic human rights. Its just an awful subject that always turns one side into the bad guy and the other side into the victim (gov. vs. people, religion vs. modern social norms). I don't think we'll ever reach a middle ground in this topic.

I completely agree with you Vanessa C. Also, I guess in Abu Dhabi, Muslim women are expected to be dressed according to the religious norms. Concerning France however, and other non-Muslim countries, I think they have the right to at least be able to identify their citizens by seeing their faces.However, they should not tell them how to dress... I lived in the Middle East for 12 years and from what I've seen, politics and religion are not very different there, they are more like one unit. And so, I think that France, a country that does not rely on religion for its political statements, should ban the burka only for the sake of identification, as opposed to gender equality, because many Muslim women consider themselves equal to their husbands or other men, despite the fact that they wear a burka. So, I don't think France is being racist, I just think it is imposing its own rules, just like some Muslim countries impose foreign women to cover their hair...

I agree with all of you that this topic is really "a hot one", but as a woman born and living in the western society I feel that I have the right to express my opinion on something that deeply disturbs me. I am totally in favour of religious freedom, and I do respect anyone who has beliefs that differ from mine. However, wearing a burqua or a niquab is for me something that goes beyond the simple fact of professing a different religion. It is something that touches me deeply inside, because I am totally aware of the innumerable battles that women had to fight from the beginning of times only to be considered as human beings and not as objects. Women fought and still fight to be treated equally or to have access to higher job positions, but these are not the most difficult battles they have to face. The greatest one in my opinion the violence and particularly the sexual violence many of them suffer because it is some men's favourite way to demonstrate their physical superiority. Burqua and Niquab, or any other thing that asks women to hide their bodies or their faces is for me a symbol of disrespect for who we are. A way of saying that we are evil because we can corrupt men, and therefore we have to be hidden from their views. I do respect women that wear those garments because they have been taught that that's the right thing to do, and most of them do believe that it is not unfair. However, as a citizen of this society I believe that our values should be respected and that there should be no compromise on equality of rights. There shouldn't be anything in our society that makes women's treatment different from men's one. And if we have to simplify things we can say that as in other countries in Europe showing one's face is a matter of personal and national security, and no one, neither men nor women are allowed to cover their faces. Apparently this is not a big deal there because the law is very clear and people who move to those countries know exactly what to expect. Why should be different for us? In our society we like to be able to see who is our interlocutor, and we want to be able to read in his or her face what he or she feel and thinks.

This issue of the ban is so controversial because of its human rights factor. France has taken an audacious move in banning the Burqa and is criticized as being racist. I admire France because they are not afraid to take a stand and protect their country's identity and values. Several times that I have encountered women wearing the Barqa here in Montréal, I was extremely uncomfortable. I was completely shocked and felt that I am no longer in my own country. For me this type of veil represents oppression and inequality of men and women and I find it hard to accept this symbol in our society. I understand that the Barqa has helped women in the Middle East to gain value and be protected from men, but I would hope that our society has evolved enough from the times of the Prophet to not need these measures anymore. However, I am not a Muslim woman and I don’t really understand the significance of the Barqa. I know that it is a way for them to manifest their faith and devotion to God and that many women choose on their own to wear it. Perhaps I am being intolerant but I think that the Barqa has absolutely no place in the Western societies. If these people want to immigrate they have to adopt the values of their new country and integrate. I think it is extremely difficult to integrate into our society while wearing a Barqa. I favor the ban, but I have some doubts as the ban or imposed wearing of the veil are both repressive.