AIBU to think face coverings in public should be banned?

How will “medical exemptions” work?

As someone upthread asks, are we supposed to strip off to show our scars and bald heads before entering Tesco? Do we need to recite our lists of medications before getting on the bus? How will this be enforced? Are bus drivers qualified to do this? Will there be a panel of bus passengers deciding whether we can get on? How will privacy be assured, or do you propose that the public should have access to undressed disabled bodies, and/or our medical history, so everyone knows we have an “exemption”? Will you call the police to question masked cancer patients catching a bus to the hospital so they can prove their “exempt” status?

It’s ridiculous, and as I have already said it is clear discrimination. (Requiring a disabled person to disclose private information to access a service, and not requiring the same disclosure of a non disabled person, is the definition of discrimination.)

Did you know this much about niqabs before you started the thread or have other posters provided information you are now using as some kind of 'strong argument'?

You seem to have unlearnt how to spell niqab , however.

I don't see how it can be both a 'personal choice' (your words) and a symbol of oppression. Your initial argument was that somehow you can't make conversation or bond with a woman whose face is covered, as if otherwise you would chat away. You moved the goalposts a fair amount.

Perhaps they are disabled, immune compromised or pregnant and they are trying to avoid infectious diseases.
Or perhaps someone they love is disabled , immune compromised - or trying to avoid becoming so. Because viruses can disable people you know.

There is no requirement in the Quran to wear a niquab or burqua - "women should cover their beauty". Niquab and burqua are cultural.

That said there can be no end of laws precluding this and that, but with the police officers to enforce the law, the will to enforce it, and a legislature willing to prosecute it there is no point in such legislation.

So that they can’t be identified and arrested by police hellbent on enforcing unjust laws.

This is simply incorrect. It depends on the grade of mask. Simple surgical masks or fabric masks protect other people from the wearer. FFP2/3 grade masks protect the wearer from others.

I am immunocompromised and wear an FFP3 in shops, on public transport, in hospitals etc. I have been yelled at, spat on, and physically assaulted for doing so. (Yes, I have been yelled at, spat on, and physically assaulted - struck in the face! - for the act of sitting quietly on a bus in a mask. Do people on this thread realise the real world consequences of their attitudes?)

As it happens, my sister is deaf. Masks certainly impair communication, and this is especially difficult for those with hearing impairments. But I cannot reasonably be expected to sit in silence on a bus without a mask, putting myself at risk, in case a deaf person comes on and wants to communicate with me. (If that happens, I can briefly lower the mask.)

Does the OP want me to sit at home forever rather than getting on with my life and wearing a mask when needed?

Banning face coverings, and expecting those of us who are immunocompromised to disclose our medical history in order to access public spaces, is overt disability discrimination. It is unlawful, and anyone doing this should anticipate being on the receiving end of legal action. Disabled people are fed up of being hounded out of public life.

😂

Why only women and girls? We were talking about disguises and balaclavas and protests and covering identities with beards and wigs too

This thread is now attracting bad actors and trolls. Unfortunate as it's an important topic for women and girls.

OK. Per you, Muslim women in the UK make a choice. To conform to societal norms. And yes, in the Westernised countries of the UK, some make the choice to shave their armpits and legs (fun fact: many Muslim women shave or wax their entire pubic region FYI).

I don't recalled being restricted to my house last week by my partner because I missed a week plucking my eyebrows, shaving my moustache and shaving my legs.

Are the societal norms of the UK, the British, Irish, Welsh and Scottish women to wear face coverings? Asides from covering your face from the winds up north.

If these Muslim women in the UK are making a choice, what would happen if that choice is removed by government legislation?

Your racism towards women wearing a niqab is pretty thinly veiled behind excuses of villainous thugs in balaclavas. If people want to cover their faces then they can, it's not up to you to police behaviour.

Let me rephrase: what reasons would you need to cover your face at a demo or protest in the UK?

My sincere apologies, it was someone else that replied to me about living in London and not you.

Probably most of them would argue it’s their choice.

many of our choices are made within societal norms. Many women would argue that hair removal is their own choice- but it’s not a choice made in a vacuum. Society tells us we have to do it, so our choice is to follow that norm. If you don’t, other people will comment and judge your hairy legs and armpits.

Muslim women in that community make the same choices. If they want to fit in they make the choice to dress to that end.

it’s still a choice.

What on earth are you talking about?! I dont live in London. I live in the Yorkshire dales and its bloody cold here from December to Febuary. The icy wind rips right through you.
You know there are parts of the UK that aren't London, right? And you know places outside of London hold protests, right?

What about beards.
big thick beards. Yay or nay?

and the Sikhs? Don’t ban them please I lowkey love their vibe

Outdoors in public then its fair enough to cover your face, but if you're interacting with the public or entering a shop or public building then it's rude and can be intimidating.

My DH rides a motorbike and should absolutely have to remove his helmet before purchasing petrol.

Anyone wearing balaclavas/full face coverings should take them off if they enter a shop.

I make my kids take hoods down in shops as its rude.

Sterile masks cover the mouth and nose but you can still see a person's face and identity them.

If you're not willing to demonstrate good manners you shouldn't be in public spaces.

What? I think you're just trolling... As someone (you) that has lived in London for what was it, 50 years (?), and me, someone that has lived and works in London for the last 20 years you are still going on about "cold and they don't want icy winds giving them a frostbitten nose while they lawfully participate in a peaceful protest"

I think you might need professional help about these icy winds in general but especially for those icy winds in central London that are few and far between and imped lawful protest and require balaclavas and face coverings 😂My goodness.

Exactly

🙄🙄🙄

Well, I have seen young school aged girls in niqab in London. Times change, I guess.

If for example they were a Hong Kong national protesting about the actions of the Chinese state.