AIBU to think face coverings in public should be banned?

Tiny minority - that might explain why I truly have never seen any such thing.

How tiny?

You may not have seen their faces but surely from their size you could take a guess at their age?

Believe me, I am not a proponent of the covering of women never mind schoolgirls but I find your argument disingenuous

I've been to a couple of feminist events, where the protestors against us (held back by police) were mainly masked/balaclava-d. We weren't. And I have to say, it is really intimidating and frightening to have people yelling abuse at you from behind masks. It presumably does make them less easy to identify by the police. I'd be very keen to ban them but I can't imagine it will ever happen.

@OpheliaWasntMad Does your proposed ban stop me putting my scarf over my nose in the icy cold winds?
My child also wears an adorable blue dog style balaclava hat with floppy brown ears, shall I just let his face freeze on the school run?

People who shoplift and ride stolen bikes are already breaking the law, @OpheliaWasntMad . If the police can't respond adequately to those crimes they are hardly likely to be able to respond to the illegally adjusted clothing that accessorises the criminality.

And regarding the niqab, you seriously think it is ok to make something illegal on the grounds that it reduces the opportunity for body language and creates social barriers? So presumably you'd also like to make it illegal to wear headphones/ear buds in public? Or sunglasses with mirrorised lenses?

That really, really isn't the same as having to wear the niqab every single day when out in public because men might otherwise get sexually arosed by the very sight of you.

What is your obsession with icy cold winds and pulling your scarf up from the cold on a walk?! 😆

YABU

Well, their faces are covered so it's hard to tell age 😉 but yes, have seen them with presumably mothers, aunts etc. also in niqab. It's a tiny minority but have seen from time to time.

Faces are routinely covered in airports - many East Asian travellers wear face masks when flying to minimise the risk of catching or transmitting infections. I’ve never heard anyone have an issue with this but presumably OP would think it prevents them from ‘making connections’.

I don’t think so.

I agree some professionals don’t lend themselves to someone with their face covered - primary school teaching being an obvious example. But banned entirely doesn’t seem right.

The problem is, not so much for those
women who choose to wear them, but for those who don’t, who ironically are often the people the “ban face coverings” brigade say they want to protect.

These women wouldn’t then miraculously be able to go out without a face covering. Many would then not be able to go out at all, or be severely restricted, as male family members would then not allow them.

The better thing is education.

so say you ban niquab’s.

now those women aren’t allowed in public or in the vicinity of non-related men because their culture requires them to be covered.

so your attempt to reduce isolation actually results in increased isolation.

then what?

Do I get to put my scarf over my nose in the icy cold winds or would that go against western norms too? Not a rhetoric question

I admittedly only ever worked with one niqab wearer, and it made no difference at all to the way we interacted. We had a laugh, chatted normally. Nobody seemed to have any issues communicating with her and she was very friendly and popular.

My husband has a beard. You can't see his lips or chin. In cold weather he wears a wooly hat and you can't see his ears, in sunny weather he wears dark glasses and you can't see his eyes. His beard is white and little children often think he's father Christmas.

“Women with niqabs create a barrier between themselves and others as it’s hard to form connections if you can’t see someone’s facial expressions”

So what? If people don’t want to form a connection with you or anyone else that is absolutely their prerogative.

if you ban face coverings you’ll criminalise a bunch of perfectly law abiding people while the thugs who cover their faces for nefarious purposes will continue to do so - you can’t legislate against surgical masks and scarves.

Are France, Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland etc. etc. etc. oppressive governments?

Is it oppressive to instil Western norms (e.g. you don't cover your face when you leave the house because #men #culture) for those that live in Western countries?

Is it more or less oppressive for men in families to dictate what women wear or the government of a Western country?

Rhetorical questions.

I'm chucking at the idea me and the other Mums on the school run would be hauled away in the back of a police car for wearing our balaclava style hats / scarfs over our noses in the icy cold winds we get 3 months a year 😂
I hope the school after school club has space for all our little ones when we're having a peaceful night in the cells.
You're all ridiculous if you think banning a warming face covering would work in cooler parts of the UK

I most definitely see young schoolgirls regularly in London wearing niqabs

I am very anti young schoolgirls even wearing hijabs - but truly have never seen them in niqabs! Are you sure? What age?

This is such a weird issue to get het up about and the only people I've ever known to be bothered are Covid-era loons and racists (there's a substantial overlap).

Of all the social injustices and inconveniences in the world THIS is the one you stamp your foot about? Let other people cover, or not cover, themselves how they want. Wind your neck in.

@thepariscrimefiles "Banning the niqab would be very illiberal and authoritarian"

France, basition of illiberal society and authoritarian government, would like a word.

But the goverment outlawing what women what they can and can't wear wouldn't be a controlling at all?
I trust women to make their own decisions with their own bodies and how they decide to dress them.

You make an excellent point (not that I'm in favour of facial recognition software!) . Think it will take a few years to get to that point though.