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

[PosieParker]

at primary school?

here

I know more Muslim women (including my SIL) who are disgusted by the whole hijab thing and fairly vocal about it than non-Muslims who dare to express a preference. We should all politely say what we think IMO.

solidgoldbrass-there is NO compulsion in the quran for women to wear the niqab! the word is not even mentioned in the quran because it PREDATES islam.

I have replied about the hijab and wear it comes from etc.. and nobody has replied loving MN!

Buggar - if I was Amish I wouldn't be allowed to wear a coloured bonnet anymore - being an oldie of 41 it would be black for me. Humpf

On the other hand, they do make lovely furniture..

What's wrong with questioning Islam and even disagreeing with some of its pratices?
If you are sure in your faith than what's the worry in it being scrutinised?
I find the practice of women covering up very foreign and something I am not sure respects the liberation that women have fought for in this country.
I do think little girls covering up seems ridiculous

NOrdicPrincess: As all myth systems are equally bullshit IMO, I'm not blindingly bothered about whether the dress code made it into the book or not because all 'holy' books have certain prohibitions that are mostly disregarded even by the devout. Plenty of Jews are happy to eat bacon butties these days and very few Christians avoid shellfish or fuss about wearing mixed fibres.
What is deservedly under attack here is the practice by some Muslims of forcing women and young girls to cover themselves up or suffer severe consequences - and what seems like a worrying tendency on behalf of some people to say that 'culture' is an excuse for ignoring serious violence against women and that questioning the decision of a few comparitively privileged women to wear the hijab or niquab because of its serious and lasting connotations of real abuse of women is 'racist' or 'anti-Islamic'.

Everyone has the right to question practices. I am very anti women being forced to do anything. On the other hand I will defend to the hilt a woman's right to choose how she will dress. If she chooses to cover up (and the key word here is "choose") then that is up to her and if she DOES choose to cover up might not her daughter want to copy Mummy?

In this country we are fortunate and don't live under the terrible regimes which oppress women elsewhere. The good thing about this is that most women have the option to decide for themselves regarding dress. Note I have not mentioned the word "Muslim" once here - we are all women and we should all be free to choose our dress. Anyone being forced to dress a certain way under the threat of some consequence from a partner is being subjected to domestic violence.

I see the fears and issues but in this country I think we have to allow women to decide for themselves and their children likewise.

It's an interesting debate isn't it Jolly Pirate?
Arguing for the freedom to wear a symbol of female oppression

And whilst you as an adult might choose to wear a symbol of oppression, why would you encourage your daughter as a child to do so, regardless of whether you simply feel it's copying Mummy? Copying Mummy has no place, surely, in this instance - isn't this symbol something that an adult should choose to wear? For reasons which I will never understand...

But surely the style of dress predates religion.

Why don't men have a dress code in contemporary Islamic practice?

Yawn, what a surprise, we can barely get through a week on MN without one of these threads bashing Islam in some form or another. I mean really why are you all so bothered? If you don't like hijab and can't be bothered to understand why anyone would then, don't wear it, it as simple as that. There are plenty of things I don't like but I don't start threads bashings them every other day. Get a hobby instead PosyParker, obviously too much time on your hands.

Boffin - men do have a dress code in Islam but unfortunately, its not as written about in the media as the women's dress code - no coincidence I'm sure!

There are as many Christian bashing threads as there are Islam ones, just no one gets their knickers in a knot over it.

Some of the Muslims I have come to know cover up and some don't. Each to their own

The whole scarves thing is a modern invention. Nothing to do with Islam or any other bonkers load of tosh like Christianity.
Go to southern Italy/Greece and you'll see plenty of Xtians wearing head-scarves. Its regional dress and of course misogynistic. But then it's a religion what do you expect? Equality?

No, that would be asking too much

What I am still (unsuccessfully) trying to fathom is why any woman would actively choose to wear something that has become a symbol of oppression, or identify with such a misogynistic dress code. Yes, I understand it's 'choice' - but why?

"worryingly fast growing religion"? NB the protest in Wootton Bassett saw those protesters being pelted with bacon - funny how the media barely commented on that.

This thread reminds me of the Facebook groups against halal meat at KFC - people making out about it;s about animal welfare (seriously now, if you care about animal welfare, KFC is the last place at which you should be eating; and you should probably avoid all local takeaways too if it;s the slaughter methods you dislike) and not about dislike of Muslims and the ways in which they choose to live their lives.

I wouldn't wear one myself but if someone else wants to wear them then that's their choice,. same as mini skirts etc. At primary school- why not?

I read an interesting article about western women who converted to Islam and preferred the scarf as they were no longer judged just on looks. Just another perspective.

What's the male dress code?

All religions are bullshit, end of. And most are misogynistic. Now I support people's rights to believe in a certain amount of bullshit (whether that's God, Allah, Father Christmas or that the X Factor represents the best musical or dancing talent available in the UK) but that doesn't mean the bullshit itself merits any kind of respect. And when the bullshit starts impacting in a really negative way on other people's lives (whether they themselves believe it, or some of it, or none of it) then it needs dealing with.

Masie - Because I want to. There. Happy now?

"What I am still (unsuccessfully) trying to fathom is why any woman would actively choose to wear something that has become a symbol of oppression"

Well it is a symbol of oppression to Western perceptions not to all perceptions.

I also as another poster mentioned have come across various instances of family members NOT wanting the women in their family to wear the hijab but they do anyway. Many of my friends in the last few years have started wearing the hijab and their parents have at first been mortified so they havent been forced.

In terms of uniform, well it is a Muslim school, so it kind of makes sense.

My little SIL enjoys matching her hijab to her clothes and things and wears pretty little hat pins and brooches to secure it. So the argument about cultural fashion also holds so value.

My daughter feels sorry for a girl in PE who is all covered up and is tucking everything into her PE gear. She says she looks very hot and uncomfortable.

What's the sense in that?

"Masie - Because I want to. There. Happy now?"

Happy that any woman would choose to wear something that your sisters are forced to, and which a symbol of oppression and a misogynistic religion? No, that doesn't make me happy at all.

Mixed - it's not only a Western perception that finds the whole idea of women covering oppressive. I suspect there are many women living in oppressive regimes throughout the world who would love to throw their coverings in the bin - but can't.

GothAnne, I'd really genuinely like to know why you want to, if you have the time to reply. Is it a modesty thing? An identification thing? Neither? Both?