None of my family wears
any form of face covering and have not done so for some years. In fact,
my grandmother stopped wearing it in the 1950’s when her daughters
begged her to stop wearing something so old fashioned. That was a
reflection of the culture in Kenya in those days.
Recently, one
of my cousins took to wearing a headscarf and this was met with
disbelief, horror and some sniggering amongst the family. She was
adamant that she wanted to wear it and eventually the topic was dropped
although with some reservations – she is now the eccentric member of the
family.
Generally speaking, the family wear a variation of
clothing, I buy an Indian suit every few years for family weddings, and
the younger set wear them to London Bollywood parties – dressing up for
fun. Some of the older women in their 70’s wear Indian clothes
unremittingly beige to show that their days of having fun and being
young are over. Others tend to wear whatever Marks and Spencer, Gap and
Oasis tend to be selling as the latest fashion.
Growing up and
wearing horrible school uniform, freezing at the bus stop in skirt in
the 1970’s we begged to be allowed to wear trousers to school but the
schools didn’t want to know. We didn’t push it too much – no one wanted
to be one of the girls whose more traditional parents insisted they wore
trousers to school under their skirts.
So you would be forgiven
for thinking that the ban on the burkha would be of little interest in
the family. But instead has been met with general dismay and a strong
sense of foreboding.
In many countries, women are forced to wear
the burqa – it isn’t optional and is rigidly enforced in public by the
various religious police forces. Odd that in the Koran it says that
there is no compulsion in religion. But there is no reasoning with
chauvinistic zealots and many women in these countries have few choices
in freedom of movement and education.
Muslim women are one of the
most unrepresentative groups in society. Who fights in their corner?
Not usually the French government, so it was odd to hear ministers
espousing freedom for Muslim women. They should not be forced to wear
symbol of oppression. How feminist of them. Or did we hear the echoes of
hatred and demonisation in their voices?
Make no mistake - this isn’t the spread of liberalism for these women
What will happen is that women will not go out
They
will now be shackled to the home, no longer welcome at school or
university or work, the freedom that comes through having a education, a
career, being able be financially independent of both fathers and
husbands are now closed to them.
They will become more reliant on their families who will have more control over these women’s day to day lives.
I
do not wear a burkha, but I have a choice. No one can force me to do so
and if I had a traditional Muslim husband who insisted I could afford
to leave and support myself and my children. Women who are educated and
work are free to make choices about their dress, their bodies and their
lives. These were the fundamental tenets of feminism.
But, if you defy someone to whom you are beholden for your every mouthful of food and the roof over your head where will you go?
If
a woman is thrown out of her home for not wearing a veil in public is
there for her to turn to – the French and Belgian governments? Their
thinly veiled antagonism is such that they appear to have little liking
for Muslim women with or without a veil. In these dark economic times,
would a homeless Muslim woman be given any help, any support?
I
listen to people discussing it and saying how uncomfortable it would be
not to see a person’s face and that so much communication is non verbal
and so you can’t communicate with these women. There is a lot less
communication with someone who isn’t there because they cannot leave the
house anymore. Frightened of the Muslim men who throw acid into the
face of unveiled women and frightened of the authorities if they wear
the veil, these women have now been sent into the ultimate form of
purdah – complete exclusion from society.
Don’t get me wrong, I
do acknowledge that some women wear their coverings through choice and
although I’m not a big fan, but that is their right.
What
concerns me are those others for whom all choices now closed down,
talented women whose voices we will never hear in literature, minds who
will never contribute to science; lives and futures limited and lost -
and that is the real tragedy lost in the rhetoric
