Click 
Click I agree with Andrew Bolt, but …
Posted by clubwah on July 1, 2009
Andrew Bolt actually has a point in his post about the emerging criticism of the burqa by feminist commentators such as Jill Singer and ABC journalist Virgina Haussegger.
On her blog Haussegger says: ” … There is no place here for the burqa . Australians must rally to have the burqa banned.”
To which Bolt says “Is it still racist to say such things? Or is it now an ABC-approved feminist cause? I get so confused.”
He has a point, but it still does not excuse those who use the burqa as an excuse to denigrate Muslims.
What shits me about feminists and Islamaphobes who decry the burqa is that none of them have actually asked the women who wear them if they feel oppressed. My ex-wife’s mother was a nurse at a top private hospital in London. Many of the patients she cared for were Saudi women (many getting cosmetic surgery) who would walk into the hospital in their burqa and then in the privacy of their suites remove them to reveal revealing Prada and Chanel clothing. If they felt oppressed she never noticed. After all if they were always covered by a burka why would they be getting nose jobs?
It’s worth noting at this point that the burka worn by Arab women predates Islam in some cultures and is less about the hiding of a woman’s face from men than the chadris worn by women in parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan, which covers the eyes. Most of the covered Muslim women we see in Australia wear the former and their reasons for doing so having nothing to with extremist groups like the Taliban. In fact some would argue that it liberates them from being treated as a sex object.
Their critics have probably not witnessed what I did recently at a DFO outlet in Melbourne. A woman in a burqa was walking with her husband and children when two women right next to her yelled out how “disgusting” her attire was and continued to make patronising and insulting remarks. I’m sure that did wonders for that woman’s self-esteem, not to mention her children. It seems these women are all for women wearing what they want as long it conforms to the muffin-topped cougar look.
And why is it oppressive for a woman to be required to wear a burqa because that’s what her culture dictates, but OK for women to be forced to wear skimpy clothing if they want a particular job or play particular sports? I’m sure that there are women who in Australia wear the burqa but would prefer not to. However, they make up a fraction of the Australian women who are confronted by some form of sexual harassment based on their appearance at work or in a social setting.
Bron said
I find that I’m really looking at a Muslim woman’s face and noting their pretty eyes or whatever, whereas with so many non-Muslim “chicks” today, I can’t help but notice how scraggy they look. I don’t even look at their faces; I just look at what they’re wearing and think “Oh god, what the hell were you thinking when you put that on?”
I’d love for feminists and those bigots who seem to worry excessively about burkas to start complaining about Orthodox (and some Conservative) Jewish women who wear wigs. Or about the Exclusive Brethren who wear head scarves.
Megan said
Virgina Haussegger is a feminist?
When did that happen?
Jeremy said
I agree with you. Thinking about the abuse these people must experience every day from patronising gits who think they know why they’re wearing a burqa and have some kind of moral authority to tell them off or try to “save” them from their clothing choice… the burqa becomes a symbol of resistance to oppression, of freedom.
I’m sure many muslim women ARE oppressed within their households (as are many non-muslim women) but the problem isn’t the clothing they wear outside.
Chasy said
What a lot of feminists seems to forget is that feminism is supposed to be about choice – including the freedom to wear what you want, when you want, without fear of criticism or physical abuse.
Criticising a piece of clothing does nothing for the underlying culture of oppression that may or may not be a factor in wearing it. It just pushes it further underground.
Don said
I was speaking with a bloke some years ago who had been to Dubai with his wife. They went to that cool 7 star hotel for a visit and a spa, his wife went off to the girl’s spa, he to the men’s. His wife reported back how hot looking all the local girls were when they disrobed in the spa, all wearing short skirts, high heeled Louboutin shoes and all the label accessories they could fit.
What’s that about? Is it they want to dress and look like the Western girls they see on TV? If so, for whom?
I don’t give a shit about what the women wear here or anywhere else, what shits me is when the men, like that idiot head Muslin dude a year to two ago when he came out saying the Aussie chicks were sluts wanting to be raped.
I find the fat chicks wearing their hipster jeans and short cropped, mid-riff showing tops with the blubber hanging out far more offensive than an elegant, black, head to toe robe with post-office-box eye-slit. Have some dignity I say, but, I respect a woman’s right to wear what she wants, even if it’s distasteful and vomit inducing.
shelly said
I agree with you and feel sorry for that woman at DFO.
Some people are just ignorant wankers. I’d much rather see a woman in a Burqa than have to look at all the teenage sluts getting around over here.What kind of parent lets their kid out of the house Nekkid,anyway?
Not Impressed said
Andrew Bolt is an egomaniacal fuckwit. I wouldn’t agree with him on anything as a matter of principle.
michelle said
What shits me about feminists and Islamaphobes who decry the burqa is that none of them have actually asked the women who wear them if they feel oppressed.
Oh god yes! This is something that shits me about feminism – just because white western women think it is oppressive, it must be oppressive! God forbid another woman should come out and say that she chooses to wear the burqa for herself, not for anyone else.
I’ve been meaning to post about this for a while, particularly since the recent rumblings in France where they are trying to totally outlaw it. Fucking unbelievable.
Don said: His wife reported back how hot looking all the local girls were when they disrobed in the spa, all wearing short skirts, high heeled Louboutin shoes and all the label accessories they could fit.
What’s that about? Is it they want to dress and look like the Western girls they see on TV? If so, for whom?
Many women who wear the burqa wear “westernised” clothing underneath. Some even wear makeup and have their hair styled. Many forget that they don’t wear it all the time, so naturally they want to feel attractive both underneath it and when they take it off in their home (or wherever).
Dave from Albury said
To be honest, I think that the anti-burqa feminists are applying the same mindset that declares that stay at home mums are being exploited and oppressed by their husbands. Absolutism is stupid, no matter who’s making the argument. These people aren’t making a positive contribution to the debate, they are sadly lending an air of legitimacy to the bigoted fuckwits.
albi said
I’m very anti-religion, so I apply criticism broadly, but on this issue I’m with Pat Condell – except for the rant about the Burqa being a security threat; that’s just crazy talk.
There is no way as a male feminist (is there such a thing?) that I can even begin to justify the hideous oppression these women encounter. In addition, to those who say that they choose to wear this garment, I call bullshit. Do you think they really have a choice?
By the way, Virginia Hausinger (or however the fuck you spell it) isn’t a feminist by any measure.
Bron said
Do you think they really have a choice?
Some must do.
Do you reall think they NEVER have a choice?
albi said
haha, you made a typo!
More seriously though, some may claim that they do, but I doubt it.
The same dynamic exists within abusive relationships where despite enduring extreme trauma, a woman chooses to remain with the violent man. There are many reasons for her choice, and none of them are rational as they have been made within a hostile and degrading environment in which her rights and control have been stripped. Fundamentalist religion is just spousal abuse on a much bigger scale.
Bron said
So you’re suggesting that all Muslims live according to fundamentalist structures? That’s something Islamophobes claim with no evidence.
How many Muslim women have you asked about this, Albi? You might want to confer with Virginia for their numbers to check with them.
Oh, and yes, bitch, I made a typo. You shut up too, Wah.
albi said
I never said that!! Of course they don’t, but the ones that wear Burqas do, and I thought that’s what we were talking about.
By the way, some of my best friends are Muslim Women
Bron said
but the ones that wear Burqas do, and I thought that’s what we were talking about.</i?
We are. So all Muslim women who wear burqas must be fundamentalists (or victims of fundamentalism)? All of them?
Bron said
Stupid formatting. I need to cut my nails.
albi said
Bron,
Moderate Mulsim women don’t wear the burqa – the veil maybe, but not the burqa.
I win, you lose. Plus you don’t know HTML!!
albi said
I meant hijab, not veil.
albi = failure.
roxannatas said
When you work out what you mean to post, get back to us.
Bron said
Who was that directed towards, Albi or Wah, Roxannatas?
roxannatas said
Albi. I wouldn’t dare take on Wah.
michelle said
But how can you claim to know exactly what these women do choose? Assumptions are being made from our point of view (that we see it as oppressive) but that doesn’t mean that all the women who wear it are doing so due to oppression.
Rebecca said
As anyone who has been to the Middle East will know, especially places like Bahrain or the UAE, the women’s clothes shops have some of the best clothes you will ever see. Women wearing a burqa is the least of our issues.
Mind you, if I was to rob a bank, I would wear a burqa and escape in a Volkswagen Beetle. They would never know who did it then, or what year the car was I drove away in.
Ray Dixon said
So Wah, off topic, but good luck for tomorrow’s game and may the best team (St Kilda) win.
clubwah said
Cheers Ray – should be a great game.