Burka, Hijab... What really is the difference? It is a part of the religious beliefs of a number of cultures for women to cover their faces in public and to maintain a high level of modesty. While I find it a bit excessive, if it is a womans choice to honor such traditions, then I support that. In many cultures it is expected that women be subservient to men. If this is done by choice rather than oppression, then I support that also, and not because I am male. The problem is that women often face almost as much grief over honoring their religious dress code in our culture as they do for not honoring it in theirs. How is that fair and democratic? How is that "multicultural"?
Women who choose to surrender their will to their husband, rather than being forced to, as a means of honoring a religiously mandated social hierarchy, in spite of criticism and condemnation from those not of the religion, are not weak willed individuals, but quite the contrary. They face the slings and arrows of an outraged public who for the most part find concepts like public modesty and religious devotion alien and therefore like to put different labels upon it. Shame, oppression, mindless obedience, etc. For some these may indeed be the motives, but for others it may not be. Who are we, as outsiders to their ways, culture, religion, and personal circumstances to judge? Let people wear Turbans, Burka's, Hajib's, or clown noses for all I care, if it makes them happy. I've been judged many times on account of my long hair for being a rebel, a punk, a ne'er-do-well. I just like how I look with long hair and absolutely hate the feeling of draft on the back of my neck.
Some people like to butt their noses into the business of people they don't even know in order to push their personal point of view. I mind my own business, and when it comes to what people wear, as long as it isn't indecent or profane (or unsafe), I could personally not care less.
- Cham
