to think that Muslim Girls should not be wearing headscarves....

[PosieParker]

at primary school?

here

I assume Eric you are assualted daily in a non Muslim country?

Ok, so what's your understanding of them now, Edgar? And why do women still wear them, while Muslim men seem to be relaxing their dress code year on year?

Riven - why not just buy her a cosy hat which ties under the chin? Why put her in something which has the connotations it does?

If the hijab isn't uniform at that school then I have been labouring under a misapprehension and my point is null and void.

But, as an offshoot, yes, little girls do wear what mummy says in pretty much all cultures. Should Mummy be saying "Cover your self up, you are seven years old but I don't want men lusting after you"?

The hijab, IMO, should not be pArt of the uniform and like say a rap style cap shouldn't be allowed until age permits.

Yes, YABVU.

BlackBess at your SIL, what is the situation there? Does she choose to stay or is she unable to leave?

Well I'll lambast those poor little pageant girls' mothers just as hard. But just because everyone does it somewhere does make it right.

School dictates at school though, tha's the point.

I can't remember anybody in my primary school dressing up as mummy to attend school. We dressed as children at school, unless it was dressing up box time.

Most little girls love to put on high heels, wave a handbag about etc as part of imaginative play, some boys do it too!

But you don't wear it to school because it's what your mummy wears - mummy is an adult and to dress like her is 'dressing up', not part of children's daily wardrobes.

I am a muslim, although many like to tell me that I am not. I would like to express my gratitude to every women here who raises their voice against the hijab and all it entails.

mwahs!

It's like .... would you let your 7 year old wear a bra on non existant breasts, to school, just because you wear a bra and she wants to wear the same clothes as mummy?

Or do you say "No, you're a child, you don't need a bra, a bra is for girls who have started puberty and women. You are 7."

Yes Posie I have had my arse pinched in the UK, in Italy and in Spain as it happens. My point is that I have not been assaulted or objectified any more in the muslim country I spend a lot of time in than anywhere else. On the contrary I am treated with curious respect on the whole, even when not with my DH, despite being white and dressing only reasonably modestly (t shirts, skirts on or below the knee). Cultures vary massively. I find Spain to be more uncomfortable to be female in, the men are more aggressive, unpleasant and intrusive by far.

Agree. I wear high heels and a bit of lippy to work, and DD would like to wear something similar (she and I have the same size of feet, so it's possible). However, she is 11, so wears no make-up and flat shoes. She is a child, and I say no to anything which sexualises her.

A lot of women wear make up everyday (as their culture dictates) but it is very unlikely they would let their 7yr old daughter wear it to school.

Colditz
my MIL did not let her girls wear hijab as kids because 'it's not for children'. She insisted they wait til they grew up and chose for themselves. People are different. I think it's bonkers to make little girls wear hijab for religious reasons but then you will always see girls coming out of the hammam (public baths) with headscarves on, this is not hijab but to keep their heads warm. My SIL also wears hijab if she hasn't been to the hairdresser. It doesn't have quite the same significance all over the world.

I do wish some people would get more worked up about the thousands of women who suffer violence at the hands of their partners in this country (with at least one woman murdered everyday) than what less than 0.5% of the population wear on their head and what they decide to wear in Saudi Arabia which has nothing to do with the vast majority of Muslims in the UK.

I'm not a Muslim and think religion is a load of tosh, however, even I can see that some on here have Islamaphobic attitudes. Every religion has ridiculous practices but Islam is the most popular one to bash at the moment and it seems to make some people feel superior even when their own cultures and countries are far from perfect in every way.

2 completely seperate issues, Capricorn. If you want to start another thread asking AIBU to not want women in the UK to suffer at the hands of their violent partners then I'll happily post on that thread as well, along the lines of no, of course YANBU.

Why do you think it Islamaphobic to question why young girls should be wearing a hijab to primary school?

Sanielle:- She is an educated liberal Muslim married to an educated liberal Muslim. She has 4 dcs and were she in the UK she would be a SAHM like many here because of the ages of her dc's. DH has been offered a very well paid short term contract so it makes sense for them to be there for a while as she wont work till the youngest is 10 months. She is there out of choice (finacial choice). She wants to come back as she is struggling but has to wait till the end of this contract. Not being forcibly held against her will but they are both at the end of their tethers

capricorn, I detest that argument.

First of all, what does domestic violence in the UK have to do with religious clothing? There is heaps and heaps of stuff on here about DV, nobody takes that subject lightly, they just don't mention it on a thread about headscarves because that's not what we're discussing here.

Second of all, presumably if we criticise, say, the givernment, our kid's headteacher or our DH then this is known as being opinionated and outspoken, but if we do it to religion then we are 'bashing'? How does this work? Can't we question and criticise as we see fit?

The fact that our own culture and country are far from perfect is so laughably obvious that it doesn't ned to be said.

But we can say 'x is bad' without it having to mean 'x is bad and y is of course perfect'.

How utterly tiresome if we have to insert caveats into every opinion we give to the effect that our own culture isn't perfect - nobody said it was, did they? Although I'm not quite sure what is meant by our own country - for many thousands of religious people of all persuasions, this is their own country.

Maisie - I completely agree. It is not Islamaphobic to question aspects of Islam. To say so is PC gone mad.