Why get so offended over a veil?
I was op-shopping today, sugared up to the point where holding bunches of frothy croched doilies to my throat and saying "Yeah baby!" felt like a reasonable thing to do.
At the fourth op-shop, I was pawing through a rack of vintage shirts when a woman beside me remarked very sharply "They shouldn't be allowed to wear them here! They're banned in most other places! It's just wrong." A pair of wizened old white men were muttering in agreement, so she went on "If you come to Australia, you should bloody well dress like an Australian!"
Being another loud mouth of a differing opinion, I remarked that I think she should be allowed to wear whatever she wants to wear. While the trio boggled, I went on to say that I can sympathise with preferring to wear what you're used to regarding as a decent level of dress. Why, I pointed out, it's only a few decades since a woman in Australia would not feel fully dressed if she went out without a hat. My grandmother would not leave the house without her hat and gloves because she was used to having something on her head.
I'd be pretty upset if people hated her for it. And yet these people are really, really angry that the (presumably Muslim) woman was covering her head in the ways of her tradition.
The woman reposted by repeating that "If you want to live in Australia, you should dress the way we dress!" I pointed out that in the most strict Muslim countries visiting women have no option but to cover up to fit in with the traditions of the locals. She leapt to agree "Yeah, yeah, you'd bloody have to! They'll do god knows what if you just dress normally!" I murmered along... "if you don't get raped, or even if you do, you'll get arrested. They will lock you up, send you home if you are lucky, or have you flogged or stoned to death... just because you're a woman who is not dressed the way the law says you should be dressed. Countries who want to have laws that tell women how to dress really piss me off."
The veil-hating woman was agreeing vigorously, not quite getting the implications of what I was saying. So I continued: "I think Australia is a better place to live because women get to choose what they want to wear. Women get to choose whether they wear the veil or not. A law saying they must or a law saying they can't are both wrong in my book. In Australia, we have the freedom to make our own choices."
Veil-hating woman was suddenly very interested in some items on a table just over there, and the conversation ended. I made a 'WTF' face at the sales attendant who was making a 'WTF' face at me, and I browsed my way out of the store.
I do wish I had thought of the analogy of; instead of considering a country with a severe law requiring that women cover up, that I had suggested considering the implications of veil hating woman moving to a tropical island where women traditionally go about topless. Because I am certain that making the argument that women should adopt the local mode of dress under those circumstances would shock and appall the likes of the veil-hating woman.
This entry crossposted from http://tangent-woman.dreamwidth.org/552004.html with
comments. Please comment there if you feel inclined. You too can have a Dreamwidth blog. Ask me how!
At the fourth op-shop, I was pawing through a rack of vintage shirts when a woman beside me remarked very sharply "They shouldn't be allowed to wear them here! They're banned in most other places! It's just wrong." A pair of wizened old white men were muttering in agreement, so she went on "If you come to Australia, you should bloody well dress like an Australian!"
Being another loud mouth of a differing opinion, I remarked that I think she should be allowed to wear whatever she wants to wear. While the trio boggled, I went on to say that I can sympathise with preferring to wear what you're used to regarding as a decent level of dress. Why, I pointed out, it's only a few decades since a woman in Australia would not feel fully dressed if she went out without a hat. My grandmother would not leave the house without her hat and gloves because she was used to having something on her head.
I'd be pretty upset if people hated her for it. And yet these people are really, really angry that the (presumably Muslim) woman was covering her head in the ways of her tradition.
The woman reposted by repeating that "If you want to live in Australia, you should dress the way we dress!" I pointed out that in the most strict Muslim countries visiting women have no option but to cover up to fit in with the traditions of the locals. She leapt to agree "Yeah, yeah, you'd bloody have to! They'll do god knows what if you just dress normally!" I murmered along... "if you don't get raped, or even if you do, you'll get arrested. They will lock you up, send you home if you are lucky, or have you flogged or stoned to death... just because you're a woman who is not dressed the way the law says you should be dressed. Countries who want to have laws that tell women how to dress really piss me off."
The veil-hating woman was agreeing vigorously, not quite getting the implications of what I was saying. So I continued: "I think Australia is a better place to live because women get to choose what they want to wear. Women get to choose whether they wear the veil or not. A law saying they must or a law saying they can't are both wrong in my book. In Australia, we have the freedom to make our own choices."
Veil-hating woman was suddenly very interested in some items on a table just over there, and the conversation ended. I made a 'WTF' face at the sales attendant who was making a 'WTF' face at me, and I browsed my way out of the store.
I do wish I had thought of the analogy of; instead of considering a country with a severe law requiring that women cover up, that I had suggested considering the implications of veil hating woman moving to a tropical island where women traditionally go about topless. Because I am certain that making the argument that women should adopt the local mode of dress under those circumstances would shock and appall the likes of the veil-hating woman.
This entry crossposted from http://tangent-woman.dreamwidth.org/552004.html with
comments. Please comment there if you feel inclined. You too can have a Dreamwidth blog. Ask me how!