Veiling, Burqas and Western Feminism

[dreadgeek]

Originally Posted by betenoire

I think you misunderstood me, honestly. I wasn't saying that the bottom line is that if it's someone's culture we should stfu and mind our own business. I was saying that part of the reason that some people are so freaked out by women who cover their heads/faces is because they are freaked out IN GENERAL by that other culture. Just like people lose their shit over someone carrying a kirpan. You can't deny the truth in that.

I may have misunderstood you because I got the part about choice. I didn't think the issue in contention was whether or not women had the right to choose to wear a veil--I took that as a given that there is no one here who would contend that women can't make the free choice to wear a veil.

For a white woman to tell a brown woman that her culture/customs/religion/whatever is wrong and needs to be changed is waaaaaaaaaay fucked up.

I was reacting to this statement. It depends upon the situation. Reading this as it appears, it seems you are saying that it's wrong--full-stop--for a white woman to tell a brown woman that her culture is wrong, etc. I can't agree with that because if it's wrong in one dimension--for a white woman to tell a brown woman that--then it's wrong in the other direction as well. There are things that are just screwed up no matter where it's happening or who it's happening to.

I wonder how many feminists actually believe that *any* woman wearing a veil is oppressed. A lot of what I hear and read from feminists--when we criticize women covering--is criticism of a culture that says to women that their very presence in society is problematic, that they are temptresses who must be covered up for the sake of men and social order. I imagine that there are some Western feminists who jump to conclusions that no woman would freely choose to veil but I don't know too many who do jump to that conclusion.

At any rate, my response was specifically about the quote immediately prior to my response. If the culture says that educating women is wrong and it just so happens that the culture saying it is brown, I think it is entirely appropriate for any feminist, from any culture, to say "hold on. That is injustice."