Tuesday 14 August 2018

Me, Boris, them.



I know this post will be received with shouts of "Racist", but I couldn't give a Monkey's.

Boris recently defended those Muslim women who wish to wear clothing that he claimed made them look like Letter boxes or Bank robbers. I would not have been so kind.

Forget the Letter boxes nonsense, etc, it's the covering of one's face in public that worries most of us. It makes people anxious, frightens children, and whatever they say, it looks to me like the worst type of third-world female repression.

Whilst at it, I would also ban the wearing of hoodies and all types of face masks, and I would ban those ugly white smiling masks that Anarchists wear when rioting; as well as the Niqab of course.

I have nothing against people wearing such clothing in the privacy of their own homes, but NOT when in public. If Niqab wearers wish to demonstrate devotion to their faith; do it at home or in a mosque, but keep the garb packed away whilst in the bank, at the airport, or on the High Street.

We need to see people's faces, it's an important part of being 'human'; even motorcyclists are asked to remove their helmets when buying petrol, and do so willingly.

The left tried to make Boris's outburst into a party-political matter, but I believe that these concerns cover all political colours. Personally I cannot see this as being anything more than social concern.

If these Niqab wearing women really think of themselves as being so desirable that men would die in the rush for even a glance, then they are mistaken. Of course men like to see a pretty face (I certainly do), but we are mostly blessed with self control. If on the other hand they think it's just Muslim men who cannot control themselves; then their problem is 'internal'.


43 comments:

  1. Pretty close to my thoughts. Humans depend very much on facial expressions to communicate as do many animals. Why choose to effectively reject the rest of the human race by face covering? And it so gives the appearance of male control and repression, whether it is there or not. It Malaysia we had many couples from the Middle East staying and the women were completely covered head to foot in black, with only their eyes showing. Their husbands were smartly dressed in label clothing, suitable for the tropical heat.

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    1. Mostly, I feel so sorry for them. Back in the UK I used to see quite elderly men walking ahead of their black clad wives, who were carrying all the bags, whilst trying to control a bunch of grandchildren (I imagine). It all seemed so wrong for a sophisticated country like England.

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  2. With my hearing difficulties I absolutely rely on seeing people's faces so that I can lip-read. (Would keep the flies away though!)

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    1. I can imagine that, but I think it's the same for us all. If you can't see them; there's some important element missing.

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  3. The people who protested about the article had not read it. He was actually saying that Denmark were wrong in banning the wearing of the burka. His jokes about the letterbox were silly in this PC world but we seem not to bother about nuns being joked about as looking like penguins and his final jokes about Danes swimming starkers in Copenhagen and all Danish detectives wearing Farou Island sweaters went unmentioned. I did read the article.

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    1. Yes, I mention that he was defending their rights; even though he didn't think too much of their couture. The mass criticism was a well oiled plot to bring his downfall; I think it's done the opposite.

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  4. Yes, they remind me of the balaclava-wearing bank robber or rapist with only a slit for the eyes.

    And like Sue, with my poor and deteriorating hearing, I rely on semi lip-reading and facial expressions when conversing.

    I can't think of any reason for this tradition, other than agree it's to do with male domination.

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    1. They all say (or have been told to say) that it is their own decision, but why would any sane person wish to totally cover themselves in black robes; even nuns and priests aren't afraid of showing their faces.

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  5. Not sure about it being their own decision, there was a girl cashier in my local bank, Muslim, who used to wear a black head-covering scarf which concealed her hair but exposed just the face, she seemed a plain and shy person, Until one day she must have decided, for whatever reason, to discard the head covering; I barely recognised her, a very pretty girl with lovely black hair and pleasant demeanour, a completely different person, she seemed much more out-going and confident.

    She seemed really pleased when I complemented her on her new look and personality.

    Made me wonder how many more attractive and intelligent women are forced to hide behind this mask of obscurity?

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    1. I really cannot understand what goes through their minds. The girl in the bank must have felt totally liberated, and it sounds as if it showed.

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  6. Oh Heron. I do hope you have not put the cat amongst the pigeons.
    As to the covering of the face - certainly in cities like Birmingham (I lived close by for much of my teaching life although not in a Muslim area - I taught mainly Sikh children - and I always felt, and still do, that any attempt at integration was set back constantly by the fact that these women covered their faces. Any amount of work on the part of schools to integrate children with their local community would never work while suddenly their faces (at a certain age) were hidden from the wider world.

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    1. Are girls allowed to cover their faces in class? As an ex-teacher I would have found that unacceptable.

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    2. Who me "set the cat amongst the pigeons" why yes of course !
      A lot of people move to other countries and many of them don't fully integrate with the locals preferring to stay within their own national group. Myself I prefer to integrate.
      Women covering their face can at times prevent unwanted & unwarranted attention from predatory males; I recall seeing widows in England wearing lace veils on their hats when they were in mourning.

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    3. If you'd seen the 'cliquism' that exists out here with Brit ex-pats, you'd be amazed. I have nothing to do with them.

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  7. Golda Meir got it right when there was a series of women attacked on the streets and when her Cabinet said that the women should be confined to their houses, she said that it was the men that should be confined.
    So shut up the Muslim men who cannot be trusted around women.

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    1. I don't really want to bring up the subject of 'grooming gangs', but it does seem as if many of them do have problems with self control and fidelity.

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  8. Oh, goody! The old, hot topic perennial - the burqa debate - a sure fire way to stuff the comment boxes & for interested parties to express their outrage and revulsion
    And quite possibly their fear of a situation they seem unable to control.
    Alphie

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    1. The topic has been prompted (as I'm sure you know) by all the nonsense written about Boris. The lines are now being drawn; Tory, anti-Muslim, Labour anti-Jew.

      As you will have seen, my piece is just as much anti-hoodies and facemasks, as anti-Niqab.

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  9. Hi - Pleased to find this rational and reasoned response to the topic.

    When the cry of 'offended' goes up, there is no thought given to the fact that on every level - social, human, theological, faith - many of us find the Niqab offensive...

    Yesterday in all the hooha I watched a Ted Talk by Samina Ali on the topic. Very enlightening. Do watch.

    'What does the Quran really say about a Muslim woman's hijab? | Samina Ali | TEDxUniversityofNevada'.

    Enjoy your blog.

    Grace xx

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    1. Thanks for that Grace, I'll look at the clip later.

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  10. Whilst on holiday in Tunisia my husband wandered off for a couple of minutes and I was immediately approached by a man with intentions. If I had to contend with that every day, with the threat of ME being sent to jail if raped, I would gladly wear a burqa. It's the attitude of men of certain cultures that needs to be changed if they are migrating to western countries. Unfortunately, we know how near to impossible that can be.

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    1. When in Morocco, I always advise Lady M to wear a headscarf when out in public. It saves hassle, and shows respect for their traditions. Sadly this respect is only one-way.

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    2. In Morocco, I wore a maxi skirt, my jacket and a pashmina draped around my neck to cover the cleavage (not that any was on display). I was constantly called "sister" and treated with respect. Well, it could have been due to the titanium Amex Card.

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  11. What boris didn't do was to separate the veil from the woman.he insulted Muslim women .
    I hate the veil and what it stands for, but i don't insult the women wearing it, I insult the practice itself

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    1. I read his article and didn't see any insults to the women themselves; only to the practice of covering their faces. However I do think he could have left-out the references to letter boxes etc.

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    2. I don't give a toss what people want to wear or not. I do, however, care that we have a Foreign Minister so single-mindedly ambitious that he deliberately causes an international incident and domestic divisiveness just in order to further his campaign for leadership by pandering to the far-right in his party.

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    3. If the far-left hadn't made such a fuss about nothing, his ambitions would have remained just that.

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    4. Seeing as the subject of Socialism has been raised, it is worthy of note that the UK unemployment figures have just hit a 40 low, with those in work up by 65,000 in the last quarter. Job vacancies are up by 20,000 to 829,000, and average earnings are up by 2.%. Targets that Socialists could only dream of!

      Getting rid of Corbyn would only be a start.

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    5. I think both parties are doing a pretty good job of screwing things up right now with help from each other. If you think that your figures indicate a rise in the standard of living, then I have to tell you that you are wrong. I know. I live here.

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    6. The rise in the standard of living has been for the 65,000 who now have jobs. They are the important ones.

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    7. As I have said many times before; the one thing that the hard-left really hate is success on the center-right. I rest my case!

      Commiserations to you and you ilk.

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    8. I don't know what all this has to do with people covering their faces.

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  12. Because of our very wet weather, we have been plagued with bugs. For the 15 minutes I have been spending in the gardens this week, I have been rewarded with as many bites. When I got up this AM, I tried to think what I could wear to cover myself up to escape getting eaten today. A burqa would come in handy. Also I would sweat a lot of water and might be a pound or two lighter.

    I do feel sorry for these women who have to wear these heavy clothes. I also felt bad for nuns whose lives were similar when they wore the habit and were controlled by the patriarchy of the church.

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    1. When I was teaching in The Cayman Islands I saw old photos of women wearing very wide-brimmed hats with mosquito netting attached all the way around, and down to the ground. Could be worth copying.

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    2. That might work, but they would still get my feet. I have not used this much bug spray in many years.

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    3. Gumboots; I can just picture the scene!

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  13. They can wear what they like in private but in public I would like at very least the face uncovered. My main worry about all this is that with the burka you cannot tell who is underneath it. As far as I'm concerned it's a nothing less than a security risk - it could be a woman or a man, who knows?- and they could be a suicide bomber with all the 'kit' under there and nobody would know.

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  14. Great conversations here today. Love reading all the comments!!

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    1. Only one silly one today, but there's always ONE.

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