I believe strongly in freedom of speech, freedom of the press and a free society, yet there is something oppressive about covering the face in modern society. Oppressive both to the wearer and the onlooker. It is in no way an expression of personal freedoms, it is an expression of seclusion, exclusion and a self imposed social apartheid.
Most societies today strive for integration and assimilation of the myriad cultures that now make up their citizenry. France being perhaps more insistent than others. This doesn’t mean eradicating individual cultures, but it does mean not importing archaic traditions which have no positive social value in the 21st Century.
Wearing a full face covering is not a religious tenet. It is a tribal custom that gained currency some 2,000 years ago, in the Middle East. Then it was an oppressive edict laid down as law by men for the subjugation of women.
That women today are defending the right of other women to remain in chains is bewildering. Our security services, in conjunction with banks, government offices, pubs and clubs, libraries and passport offices, have banned the wearing of headgear of any kind. Our face is our passport to the rest of society. If I can’t see your face I may as well be talking to a robot, a machine, certainly not someone who wishes to interact with me on a human level.
The sooner we dispense with pandering to niche groups that choose to live in a modern Western society, ie, France, Australia, yet choose to drag centuries’ old customs and servitudes with them, the sooner we can welcome all cultures to our countries, and move forward into a more enlightened future.
It is only by being free of the shackles of the past that we can move forward freely. The burqa/niqab is one of those shackles.
