Boris Johnson pillar box comment

@Dottierichardson - Unfortunately I am not busy doing anything, but if I could I would ban this all encompassing piece of clothing. This piece of clothing that only women wear. This piece of clothing that makes the wearer separate, faceless, featureless, as invisible you can be whilst out in public.

As a woman I find this outfit offensive. I would find this outfit offensive on any woman, not just a Muslim woman. We have fought long and hard for equalities in this country, yet the same women who would rail long and hard about equalities are very vocal about the rights of Muslim women to wear what they like. Leaving aside coercion and the religious pressure they may be facing, surely you must see that the wearing of this garment has no place in a modern society.

It is becoming a more common sight. The more we see it the more it will be normalised. I would hate to see a teacher or a TA working in a school and kids being taught by somebody who are giving them the message that in order to be modest they must cover up.

I would of course revise my opinion if their male relatives went out and about in a shroud. Not sure that will ever happen.

Like a lot of pps I'm not very keen on BJ but why should our perceptions of him mean he can't comment on the burqa, which for many women in the UK is a political or social statement - if they can make a politibial statement then surely a politician has a right to state his view?

I believe most muslims in this country are Pakistani and the burqa is definitely not a s. Asian item of dress.

So it would be interesting to find out why young muslim women are wearing it (when many of their mums or previous generations may not have)

I mean being shouted at

I don't doubt it but what was so wrong about your comment anyway.

Must have been intimidating

Thanks @woodhill everything I said was true.

I really do think public figures who are being voted for by the British public should keep their thinly veiled racism and misogyny to themselves, yes. If he was a primary school headteacher he would be sacked for saying less. I hold our public figures to higher standards than Steve from Hereford or whatever. He’s full of his fucking superior background and education when it suits. Turns out money and privilege can’t buy you a clue doesn’t it?

Xenia has summarised well.
BJ's column did not, in its totality, give any impression of bigotry-it actually read as quite balanced. His 'letter box' etc comments have, of course, been lifted out of their context, and, as expected, the usual suspects are inflaming the issue exponentially.

As I have said previously, I am no fan of BJ, and agree he is a shameless self promoter. However I think it is interesting that Dominic Grieve came on air today to announce that he would throw his toys out of the pram and leave the Tory party if BJ became PM.
Another shameless self-promoter, in my view.

It isn’t a Muslim item of clothing. It is cultural. And it is a minority. Very few Muslims wear the burka.
It isn’t about dressing modestly at all.
It is an item of clothing that has only taken off very recently. Boris is an idiot and he has got exactly the reaction he wanted: more attention.

In what way is Boris Johnson good for this country?

It's quite ridiculous when you consider the tiny proportion of Muslim women who do wear a burqa.

This is quite an interesting article:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45112792

@Dottierichardson it sure why I got deleted none of what I said was untrue.
Either way it just goes to show you’re not allowed to state actual facts without being told you’re the one that’s got a problem.

As a public representative, boris should keep his objectionable opinions to himself

Do you think this about all representatives? Don’t we want them to have opinions?

Mistrees., SK will be more my age and you are probably a fair bit younger. There has been a massive change. We only used to see the full burka on people over from Saudi in the summer, often women in Harrods and the like and around that area. It genuinely is more of a new trend. Often older mothers despair their daughters have adopted it as they see it as a new trend in the UK and elsewhere.

i have noticed a big increase in its being worn and like BJ I have no problem with women wearing it and do not want English law changed but I have a right to say what I think about it just as women who support wearing it have their right to say their piece too. That's a free country for you.

BJ is pretty good for this country and very popular and certainly not racist. He supports the right of women to wear the burka . I don't agree with his having gone over to the Brexit cause but that is an issue that has divided Labour into two and the Tories and indeed the country into two.

They look awful. Why can't men be covered up too? xxxx

personally I dislike seeing women swathed in the burka - and have taught many of them - as the Koran only states that women should "dress modestly". the burka is imposed by men to restrict the freedom of Muslim women. We had lots of interesting discussions on it in class.
so, in that sense, i agree with Boris. (never thought I would write that)

However, those who call him an idiot and a buffoon are wrong. I ahve met him. He is shrewd, cunning and very intelligent. The clown like persona masks a very sharp mind and that makes him dangerous, not stupid

As a public representative, boris should keep his objectionable opinions to himself - how do the women who wear burkas in his constituency feel when he uses them to appeal to racists and as a punchline when he is their representative in parliament? Does he give a fuck, no he does not. And everyone nodding along with him does not give one shiny shite about the emancipation of Muslim women. They just want someone to look down on and take the piss out of. Punch up, not down.

When I was younger you didn’t see people in hijabs and niqabs, not even in Pakistan when I visited my family. In London we got on

I was born in Tower Hamlets. Grew up there, went to school there.

The Muslim population in TH is large. So of course we saw women in hijabs/niqabs. I don't know what planet Sadiq Khan lived on if he's saying he 'didnt see' but I imagine he didn't visit East London.

He generalises about the meaning of Niqab..in turn bigots generalise about him being Muslim..ever decreasing circles. Or swings & roundabouts, maybe

Why is it "faux hysteria" - (there it is again, the 'H' word reserved for when women are speaking).

You've a right to say what you like but it's strange to be sour that we don't all agree with an attention seeking loudmouthed bigot.

Freezepeach Free Tommeh mentality - say as you please if it's racist.

Like Boris or any of the Islamaphobes complaining about the Burka give a single shiny shit about the rights and well-being of the Muslim women that they hate.

Wise words indeed Xenia but, as usual, this 'debate' will produce more heat than light.

Saying what we want only seems to work if we say what those who shout loudest want to hear.

I'm certainly no apologist for BJ but he has a right to say what he did. The faux hysteria suggests he's not the only one with an agenda.

It was a calculated statement designed to curry favour with those who like to ridicule Muslims (and usually anyone else they see as different). I don’t wear a burqua and I don’t want to buy that doesn’t mean others should be picked on. In my religion (Judaism) it tends to be the men who look noticeably different. Should we make fun of them for wearing a little hat? Or having a beard?

Or are we grown ups?

Wrong think. Memory holed.

He's also practicing Trump politics where you just say outrageous stuff and get loads of publicity. It seems irrelevant that it's openly racist or sexist or blatant lies, his mug gets to be front page and that's what counts.

Why was Hairbrushes post deleted?

That is scary

The Press is all over Labour and Corbyn for being anti Semitic but Johnson is openly racist and there's not nearly the same outcry !