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.

Gordy no one is mixing up any concept here. this word choice is the key. I think in many cases there is no choice.

Well, it is a good job you feel safe walking round Saudi, Peaceful, because you can't drive yourself round.

In Saudi Arabia women are not allowed to drive.
In Saudi Arabia women are often charged for being
rape victims.

so really what you are saying body if someone has religious beliefs they choose to follow you have no respect for their beliefs and think they are rather pathetic well that gets that straight then

what has really come to light on this thread is the refusal to beleive that Muslim women can and do make choices for themselves, it is so smug and so ignorant. Many Muslim women do not value the same as what we have done and still do so as freedom, what Muslim feminists are fighting for is not always the same as what we are fighting for

even if they do choose to wear it, what makes you think none of them are making this 'choice' to please their husbands??

You think rape is due to a man not being able to control himself his lust? Are you for real?

the fact is, i doubt many are making the decision to cover up entirely because they like the way it looks or find it comfortable which is what most of us take into account when picking an outfit.

and Jimmy what do our governments still do and will continue to do to support them so we have cheap oil

what makes you think that applies to only Muslim women Vampyre - it can applied to all of us

damn right gordy and as i have said, if we weren't talking about Muslim women people would quite rightly say that it is abusive.

And great post peaceful

though you do know that others know what is better for you

people are so worried about being labelled as racist that they won't dare to disagree with ANY aspect of another religion or culture. it's pathetic.

If what is better is equality then yes

people have repeatedly said anyone being FORCED to wear anything is wrong though Vampyre Muslim or other wise - but just because any woman may be forced to dress in a way that her husband wishes - whatever their religion or culture, is not a reason to single out Muslim women and dictate what they can wear.

and if you think the burka came about because women decided it was something they would genuinely like to wear then i think you are rather seriously misinformed.

www.examiner.com/article/saudi-arabia-islamic-cleric-rapes-tortures-kills-daughter-pays-fine

An interesting (though horrific) read. I'd imagine most reasonable folk would accept this was just one father - though admittedly a cleric who presumably commanded respect in his community, and perhaps still does

That said, surely the real problem is a society which allows folks to pay to avoid a massive jail sentence for such a crime? And there are still folk who think it "western imperialism" to object to such a system? Oh dear, oh dear ... like I said, "competitive liberalism"

Extract from a girls account of wearing a burqa

In her wonderful book 'My Forbidden Face', Latifa – a young Afghan girl -wrote:
"In order to look behind me, I have to turn around completely. I can feel the rustle of my own breath inside the garment. I'm hot. My feet get tangled up in the material. I'll never be able to wear this. I now understand the stiff robot-like walk of the 'bottle women', their unflinching look directly in front of them or fixed rigidly on any unsuspected obstacle. I now know why they hesitate for so long before crossing the street, why it takes them an eternity to walk upstairs. These phantoms that now roam the streets of Kabul have a terrible time avoiding bicycles, buses and carts. It's even worse trying to run away from the Taliban. This is not a garment. It is a mobile prison."
Do we stand with Latifa and oppose the burka? That is the real choice that we all need to make.

so how did women being covered first come about it pre dates Islam

well of course people will deny that saudi arabia is anything but a perfect country because anything else would make them racist

I'm really interested in which charities or groups many of you work with where you come across all these endlessly oppressed and forced to cover up Muslim women. Or how many of your Muslim women friends or colleagues have told you they are forced to dress a certain way

or where your information comes from - because my experience does not make me view Muslim women, in the UK as any more oppressed than any other group - regardless of what they wear.

Outside of the UK there are many countries with appalling records of human and women's right I agree and I have campaigned against most of them

But if people honestly believe the way to stop women being 'forced' to wear a Bhurka is to force them not to and take away one female section of societies right to wear what they wish - then iron is lost on them

Pakistan has a massive problem with rape and sexual crime against women. lots of covering up there.

wasn't Saudi Arabia the country that was going to lash a girl who had been gang raped because she had been in a car with a male friend at the time of the attack.

again a vile regime.

Irony - IRONY ffs [girn]

as far as i know, the qur'an instructs men and women to dress modestly and this is many muslims' interpretation of this. funny though, that you rarely see men covered from head to toe.