Let me make a couple things clear from the start: I will not wear a veil to cover my face if my life depended on it, and visions of women being forced to do so by their husbands or their religion make me sick.
Having said that I totally disagree with the European Court of Human Rights’ decision to ban Muslims from wearing veils on the streets of France.
Do I like to see people wearing veils and covering their faces?
No I don’t!
The sight of them makes me hot under the collar because I am fully aware that the original purpose for obliging Muslim women to wear a burka or niqab was to subjugate them and possibly hinder their ability to communicate and integrate.
However, I still do not agree with the ban because otherwise I’d have to be in favour of banning western women from wearing high heels.
You see, high heels are meant to accentuate the female butt, breasts and walk. Supposedly this makes us more attractive to men, which apparently is more important than being able to walk properly and having healthy feet. But whilst I will not be caught dead in high heels, I wouldn’t want to ban others from breaking their necks whilst falling off their six inches.
This is known as a ‘live as let live’ attitude – something most of us like to believe we possess, but do we really?
The real ‘live and let live’ test comes when we’re dealing with an issue that we totally abhor, disagree with, or simply don’t like, because let’s face it, it’s easy to live and let live when people are not contradicting or threatening us in any way.
The European Court of Human Rights cites security and integration as the main reasons for upholding France’s banning of the veil. Of course I do understand how strong and important these reasons are, but considering that I can walk around wearing a full-face motorcycle helmet, a balaclava, a breathing mask, or more commonly a beanie and sunglasses, without breaking any laws, I don’t see how banning veils is not a racist breach of rights based solely and exclusively on religious stigma.
In essence, I’m generally uneasy about restricting freedoms. Unless they are clearly and unequivocally hurting someone (human or not), I cannot justify restrictions of any form. You might argue that people concealing their faces are a security threat but a quick search into terrorist attacks will reveal that most (if not all) are committed by people who are more than happy to show their face.
It’s only fair to expect a compromise like the removal of the veil when teaching in schools, testifying in court, or crossing borders at airports, but what to wear and what not to wear should be a free choice for everyone, no matter their reasons behind the choice.