30, August 2016 Burkinis
The recent ban of Burkinis in France has predictably conflicted
many Muslim women. In the wake of terror attacks in France Moslems are
encountering greater scrutiny. It is unlikely that the Burkha/Burkini is one of
personal choice but everything to do with pressure to conform by a deeply
entrenched male dominated system. I wonder how many Muslim women would respond
affirmatively if asked their personal views on wearing the Burkhas anonymously.
It was only late last year when women in Iran were disfigured
and blinded in acid attacks for daring to challenge the country’s strict hijab
code. No, the hijab is a symbol of oppression of women in much the same way as
the ban on prohibiting women driving in countries like Saudi Arabia. The
Somalian born author and activist, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, describes Muslim
headscarves as a means in which a deeply patriarchal culture oppresses women.
“The veil deliberately marks women as private and restricted property,
non-persons. The veil sets women apart from men and apart from the world; it
restrains them, confines them, grooms them for docility. It is the mark of a
kind of apartheid, not the domination of a race but of a sex. You risk not only
being judged, denounced and reviled but completely ostracized. Being a source
of shame to your family for not abiding by accepted cultural practices can be
traumatic for any young girl let alone one raised in cultures where she’s
considered subservient to men”.
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