aibu to feel slightly on edge when I come across women in the full black burka?

[caroleharolde]

I just always feel slightly threatened, I know the vast majority of Muslims are lovely nonviolent people but.just this sight always unnerve me. Be honest, who hadn't felt a bit uncomfortable when passing by a huddle of the burqa wearers? Not trying to be racist, I'd feel the same if it were Christians or Jews or any other religion wearing it.

JulietBravoJuliet - let's hope you never go skiing - a lot of those people have their faces covered up and I wouldn't want you to be scared of them.

Only on page 5 so far but I know how children recognise their mothers in burkas. I read an article in the times or the guardian about a woman who had been bought up in Saudi Arabia. She said that one problem with it was fear of getting lost in a shop and not knowing which woman was her mother so she used to memorise which shoes her mother was wearing.

I'm not intimated in the slightest.

I also think it's naive to say discussing Muslims and Islam is not a race issue, especially when groups like the EDL, UKIP, etc use 'Muslim' as a synonym for someone from the Middle East.

They're certainly not talking about white Muslim converts when they tell Muslims to go back where they came from.

Are you all of a quiver when you see a group of people wearing motor bike helmets too, OP, or divers, or skiers?

No? Racist twaddle, then.

The terror suspect who escaped surveillance by disguising himself as a woman in a burqa was under restrictions to stop him travelling overseas to support terrorism, the home secretary has told MPs.

^
This is about terror suspect Mohammed Ahmed Mohammed.
He probably stopped for a wee in the ladies too on the way! And wigglerocks would've been none the wiser sharing being in the ladies with him - but hey it's no different 'from a man rushing in the get his daughter!

Fantissue Some burqas include a veil that covers the eyes.

I have been skiing for 35 years and can't say I have seen many people with their faces completely covered. Most people like to breathe freely when skiing, even when it's -10C and snowing.

Fantissue Why is the other person lazy? Why should they be the ones to try and see your expression in your eyes?

Why not make it easy for them to be friendly by allowing them to see your smile?

It always amazes me how people on this board make glib judgments of others. Fantissue you have no justification for saying that I don't want to be friendly or that I am lazy. It's because I'm looking for some sort of response that I'm looking at them in the first place; if I wasn't I could/would just ignore them.

one point is that most people are banned from even wearing a hood in a public place, because of the perception of 'threat' apparently.
and honestly all you people desperately trying to be 'right on' are not being honest, IMVHO

Oh Feckless please read the thread before you post! Plenty of people are saying masks, balaclavas and helmets make them feel very ill at ease.

As usual, the levels of ignorance, unfriendliness and general bigotry on this kind of thread astound me.

You are talking about people.

Baies 74 - don't know about you but when I'm talking to a person I look at the whole face and don't just fixate on their mouth. It's extremely lazy just to ignore someone because you can't see part of their face. Some people have medical issues that stop them moving their mouths freely - shall we just ignore them too since we can't see their smile?

Loads of people in my hood in burqas (ie covered head to toe). There is indeed a large Afghan population. However the burqas are black rather than blue and most Londoners spend more time looking down at the pavement than at each other, so perhaps don't notice.

Must admit I don't notice hijabs other than when someone is wearing a particularly pretty one. They're nothing out of the ordinary here and I notice their face first anyway.

It's insidious racism that has been drip dripped into people's consciousness by the media. I'm from Belfast, I remember people moving away from me on the tube in the 90s because of my accent, looking to see if I'd a bag/rucksack, checking to see where I got off. Why in Gods name would you be more on edge because of a covering on someone's face. I just don't get it, I really don't.

We "read" the whole of a person's face, including their mouth, their eyes, and their muscular expressions.

The more cues we have to go on, the more accurate we can be in our assessment.

If someone is making it harder for others to "read" them, they're doing so deliberately, for a multiplicity of reasons, not all of them religious or innocuous.

YANBU when in Rome...

"those who say Muslims aren't a race are being very naive. UK law has found that Jews and Sikhs can be races based on certain criteria"

Jews can be considered a race because they originate from the same place and have mostly married among themselves since then. Muslims include white Turks whose ancestors are from Central Asia and black Moroccans of African descent, and therefore is "Muslim" is clearly not a race.

Fantissue, you wrote: "don't know about you but when I'm talking to a person I look at the whole face and don't just fixate on their mouth. It's extremely lazy just to ignore someone because you can't see part of their face.

Revealed a little too much about yourself in post there. You can read the "whole face" but I have to read your eyes? What's so special about you that you get that upper hand then?

You can't see the color of the person hiding under a burqa, so I'm not sure how you think an aversion to these people can be called "racism". Prejudice, maybe. But racism? No, sorry.

Busted!

On my way out to work and skipped to the end ... It's a fair cop.

I'm not at all right on, I'm very conflicted about this whole thing!

On one hand I hate the idea of women having to cover themselves up because some passing bloke might get the hots if they saw their knees or whatever.

On the other hand I think people should be able to wear what they feel confortable in and so if a full veil is your thing then why not ... some days the idea really appeals to me too!

Also I've had some very fine times indeed surrounded by black clad men with scarves over their faces so people going ooo-er scary bikers makes me feel a bit impatient. I'm scared of spiders but I don't want them banned!

Well I tend to talk to someone whatever they wear - I work in tourism and I have Japanese clients that like to wear dust masks in public, I have Arab clients that like to cover up completely, I have Italian clients that like to wear enormous scarves and snoods that cover part of their faces. I will talk to anyone and try and make the best of the situation, not just ignore them. People are designed to pick up on verbal signals, facial signals and body language. If I can't tell someone is happy by a combination of what they are saying and body language then I'd be seriously worried.

Cote, that is crap.

Jews have come from all over the middle East/Med/Africa. Only the most orthodox only marry within their religion. What you have said is incredibly ignorant.

I'm from Belfast, I remember people moving away from me on the tube in the 90s because of my accent, looking to see if I'd a bag/rucksack, checking to see where I got off
sure you do

When I see women in the burkha and niqab it's usually when they are with their families in my area. There is nothing threatening about them at all.