Ban The Burqua? Part 1

Friendly faces

After laughing my way through a new documentary “Dumb, Drunk andRacist” on what Indians really think about Australians (a topic for another day), I had to think.

Who really cares about the burqua, besides that slightly confused middle aged gentleman driving his “Ban The Burqua” van?

In just one week I have seen several hours of Australian TV dedicated to the issue of the burqua, including Channel 7’s “Sunday Night” current affairs program. I don’t know how they found these women. Muslims make up four per cent of Australians, and anyone wearing the burqua is far less than half of all women - in other words, well under one per cent of Australians.

I personally do not give a toss if someone wants to wear nothing at all, or a tablecloth on their head. Certain times in your life you feel vulnerable. When I was a teenager I was covered in acne scars so I wore a tea towel over my head. Or before major facial recontruction surgery, you might want to cover up.

Who cares, does the face really matter so much? The answer no, not if you don’t want to show it.

The burqua is not a security issue. If you need to show your face like everyone else to police or border control, show your face. This means removing your glasses, hoodie, helmet, scarves or balaclavas. If you don’t want to, don’t leave your house.

The only instance I could see myself caring about a burqua would be if I sent my child to school and her teacher wore a full face cover - I would wonder at my daughter’s language development given that forward facing prams and the poor Mr McLaren are being blamed for a plunge in language skills internationally! 

I do think kids of women who cover their face would suffer language impediments, although to be fair they see their mum at home uncovered so they must actually think, what is wrong with my mum's face that she covers it in public? I wonder really what their kids think. They probably don’t give it a passing thought, as long as dinner's on the table, the Nintendo console is loaded up and someone’s tucking them into bed.

There are clearly workplace policies and certain occupations that require a definite clear stance on the burqua. This is what the law defines as a “genuine occupational requirement”. I would suggest burquas are impractical for occupations where the face needs to be seen and where a huge cloth and lack of peripheral vision might cause a safety issues, such as teachers and some medical positions and trades.

To Be continued...

Ban the Burqua Part II: You Are Not The Poster Girl for Liberation

How liberated - not!

To be honest, I am yet to meet a burqua-wearing Australian, let alone a burqua-wearing Australian who actually works. All the Muslim women on TV are busy raising five children and really only wear their cloth when in public, to go to Woollies or a prenatal check-up.

What does irritate me is the way Muslim women try to portray wearing the burqua as liberating. While I can totally understand this, and agree not being a slave to fashion or other people’s perceptions could be a fresh way to live your life, I cannot stomach their trying to position the burqua in PR terms somewhere between drinking Coke and skimpy underwear, or as something a young modern woman is happy to partake in. 

If you want to walk around partially or fully covered, go ahead, but you are not a poster girl for female liberation. Tampons, education and the internet have given women a hell of a lot more freedom than a huge unwieldy sheet worn over the head. Showing just your eyes. No face equals no identity in Australia. 
I don’t care if you drive and wear a burqua. You are not free.

I don’t even care about why you wear a burqua. Don’t espouse the virtues of the burqua. Your religious dedication is shown by your actions, your community service, volunteer and charitable works, and by how you care for others, not by your choice of dress. Every time our neighbour and the largest Muslim state in the world Indonesia suffers an earthquake, I do not see a whole lot of Muslim aid pouring in. The Red Cross is far more involved than the Red Crescent. So maybe Muslims should try to focus on charity work rather than obsessing over what they wear.

By wearing a burqua you are also by default suggesting men are attracted to you. They are not. If you take your burqua off and walk around Lakemba Woollies in your tracksuit with your muffin top and five kids I promise you, not one man will look lasciviously at you. You’ve had five kids. I’m sorry, you may be a good mother, but you are not sexy.

Last time I walked around with just a scarf on my head, which I do in winter or when visiting Muslim regions, I didn’t suddenly feel liberated. Just a bit itchy. And last time I waled around uncovered in Morocco, Indonesia and Lakemba I did not cop one single sultry glance which was rather disappointing as I fancied my long blonde hair and bare skin may prove irresistible. But sadly, no. 

Many of the burqua wearing Australians grew up uncovered, with uncovered mothers, and suddenly they decide after S11 that they simply had to rush to the nearest burqua shop and buy a head to toe covering? I mean, really? It reeks of insincerity. And while Australians may be many bad things, one thing we really hate is insincerity and pretention.

Why not just move to the religious lands where you can be surrounded by Islam, the Koran on stereo sound and true believers 24-7? If I was devout, I would not want to be in Australia where any turn of the head will bring a yelling bogan or topless sheila.

Ladies, just chill out, take up camping and chuck the makeup and heels. And the burqua! Take advantage of being free and Australian. I went on a camping trip with some friends born in Syria and Lebanon who congratulated themselves on getting their hands dirty and doing things for themselves because it is not part of what they are taught culturally.

So by all means, go ahead and enjoy your head cloths, but don’t misrepresent the reason you recently decided to cover your face. And please don’t tell me how liberated you are.