It's a bank holiday here in England today and as usual all over the weekend the weather has been absolutely shocking. What a change from last weekend when we were getting a suntan in the beer garden to today when it's so cold that I have the heating back on...brrrr!!!
Today I'm supposed to be packing the kitchen as my new one is arriving sometime next week but I simply can't muster the energy and have been procrastinating all day. It's now 6.30pm and all I've managed to do today is read the paper, two loads of washing and take Chick out for lunch. We tried to go to the park but the second we got there it started raining and we all know that I'm completely and utterly allergic to the rain, so we came home and watch St.Trinians for the twentieth time this weekend!
I read a story in the paper today about how from next week France are banning the Burka and it's been bothering me all day......apparently it's already banned in Belgium. Now I may not know so much about ethnic cleansing but this strikes me as a subtle version of that? Why are they banning it? They may not agree with what it represents but what are they hoping to achieve? Surely it's just a way of discouraging Muslims to go to France. Would we let them get away with it they were banning skull caps for Jews or infact Jews altogether. Is Hitler back and someone forgot to tell me?
Now maybe I've completely mis-understood the whole situation and am being totally blonde, which is sometimes the case (!!!) but the article said that men could be fined and jailed for forcing their wives to wear it and that the women could also be fined because "they don't get a choice"! I get that they want to stop women being forced to wear a burka but how the heck are they going to prove who was being forced and who isn't.
This doesn't just apply to French residents but Tourists also. Are we aiming for a Muslim free Europe? If so please let me refer everyone back to Hitler and the Holocaust! Why do we find the burka so offensive? Is it something that I'm not understanding...please let me know in the comments what your views are on this, as always feel free to let me know if it is me being completely blonde and ridiculous!!!
Monday, 3 May 2010
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Personally, I find the burka completely offensive - women should not have to cover themselves up like that! That said, I find BANNING it even more offensive. People should be allowed to wear whatever they want, wherever they want, especially if it is religious dress. It does make me cringe inside, but I guess that's my problem, not the burka-wearers.
ReplyDeleteIt also sounds like a "we don't care if you treat women badly, as long as we don't have to SEE IT" type of solution. Figure out a way to combat inequality without picking on the easy target - what people wear.
It's a dangerous, slippery slope!
@Debbie.....I completely agree that women shouldn't have to cover up like that but banning it horrifies me!! I wonder how long it will be until we have the same thing in England??
ReplyDeleteIm afraid I agree with it. It is a huge security risk. If you wear a crash helmet, A hat or even a hoody you are asked to remove before entering a bank, petrol station etc.
ReplyDeleteA burka makes a person completely and utterly anonymous, Whoever is wearing it can do whatever they like and there's very little chance of them getting caught. Who's to say its not even a man under that burka?
I think they should be banned - Possibly only where its a high security risk like airports, goverment buildings, maybe even banks. Im araid in todays world they are a very real danger.
@Confessions of Crafty Mum.....hmm, that's a good point I guess. I've never thought of it from a security point of view, which completely alludes to my blondeness!!!
ReplyDeleteI loved reading this Emma, you have such a great perspective!
ReplyDeleteWell, what a subject, for me it is security as the first and only reason the burka should be banned.
ReplyDeletethe organ grinder
@Domestically Challeneged.....Thanks hun!
ReplyDeleteI just typed a massive comment for this topic and the bloody internets dropped out just as I clicked submit!!
ReplyDeleteSo I’ll try again!
I have lived 3 years in the Middle East and spent a lot of time with Muslim women and all the ones I knew choose to wear their burkhas as they find it more comfortable to cover and not be judged on their appearances but on their personalities instead.
I have also known western women who have converted (as single women, NOT to marry as most people assume) and they also chose to wear burkhas. However it is important to point out that it is a culture thing not a religious thing. Nowhere in the koran does it say that women should wear burkhas.
These women do so because they choose to. Just like we choose to wear a high neck top that covers our cleavage (or a low top in my case-what? I have great boobs!).
I do think that they should be banned whilst driving as a clear peripheral vision is definitely required for safe driving.
Any country who tries to tell you how to dress (Muslim countries included) are being dictatorial and Em, you are not wrong in relating them to Hitler.
They are either being naïve or downright ignorant if they think spousal abuse will end there!!
I personally detest religion and feel it is just like following a fairytale book but I will not tell someone else that they shouldn’t follow the rules of their religion if they wish. Or in this case their culture. That is their decision as an adult to make and theirs alone.
Love Aunty Nelly xxxx
@Nelly....Wow that's a monster comment! I completely agree with you!
ReplyDelete@Organ Grinder.....It is a big subject and I'll see you later to argue with you some more ;-)
Interesting post. I may not win a price for popularity for saying this - but I can somehow understand the ban of the burka. Firstly, the wearing of distinct religious symbols in public places has been banned in France since 2004. We are talking ALL symbols. Muslims are not an underprivileged minority in this case. Plus, why does nobody cry out for British women being jailed in Arabic countries for having alleged sex outside a marriage? Why do I have to cover up when entering certain countries? Because as a guest, I have to adapt to whatever culture I am entering. Why shouldn't it be the other way round, too?
ReplyDeleteThe French culture is one of emancipation. If you don't like it, don't go to France.
@Metropolitan Mum....I think you have some fair points in there! This is why I was asking for people's opinion as I didn't know that it was all religious symbols! Almost everyone I have asked about this has agreed that the burkha should be banned!!!
ReplyDeleteMetropolitan Mum's comments are spot on.
ReplyDeleteThe Organ Grinder
@Organ Grinder.....erm excuse Mr.Grinder, I am the only woman you are supposed to agree with ;-)
ReplyDelete