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.

Russian, don't you think that it does. Of course it does! How can someone one see properly through the mesh, how can a woman drive, how can they walk or run properly. In hit countries I have read that women become extremely hot under it. The men are not restricted line this.

France banned all religious symbols such as crosses and anything which stopped identification of a person in public. It's done more harm than good with many young girls being kept indoors and not allowed an education.

I agree with piglet. YANBU to ask your question if discussion is what you're after. If you don't ask you don't learn.

Ook lets do this...

I am proud to live in a country where people can choose to wear or not wear whatever they damned well please.

I do think that there are situations where the wearing of the face covering veil possibly should not be allowed such as in court but generally when I see ladies wearing it I don't really have any opinion other than "I want one, would be awesome for bad hair days".

I have been with many different children of varying ages and in the world we live it is normal for them to see people dressed according to their culture so its not worrying or scary for them - that's why I think its difficult for us to see how an adult can claim that its such an issue for them? That said I can understand why any kind of face covering could make someone feel uneasy - that doesn't make them worthy of a ban though. You cannot give offense, only take it.. ergo your problem, not theirs

FWIW I don't care why France banned it - I don't think it was a positive move.

France banned the hijab in public places, e.g. schools etc, along with all other externally visible signs of religion, including kippot for Jewish men, and presumably also head-coverings for married Jewish women. Although it was reported in the UK as being an 'anti-Islamic' piece of legislation, it was not. Their motives for banning religious clothing in public areas stems from their conceptions of society and how difference may be expressed in places that are officially and publicly 'French society'. It has nothing to do with fear or suspicion.

i would be unnerved if i encountered someone wearing a balaclava.

Talking we are all entitled to our opinion, not all Muslim women wear the burka but dress modestly!

piglet you do realise that they're not pencil dresses, right? Why on Earth would anyone not be able to walk or run properly?

I think a lot of people will be too scared to post what they feel for fear of getting the wording wrong and being accused of racism.

As an adult I know why burkas are worn and respect the decision of the lady to do so. The burka is worn to keep the wearer from the eyes of the world as part of their religious beliefs. This makes the wearer more unapproachable to strangers.

If you needed to ask for directions, or the time, would you ask somebody in a burka or would you walk past and ask somebody else not wearing a burka?

I don't feel uneasy about women wearing burkas but the wearing of a burka makes it harder for me to connect with the with these ladies because so much is hidden except a declaration of a religious belief that I don't share as I'm a humanist.

Talking have you seen a burka!

It doesn't make me feel on edge, although I do find it harder if I talk to anybody wearing one, especially if it's busy - if there's a lot of background noise I tend to lipread, so I don't like them for that reason. I feel very rude having to keep asking them to repeat themselves!

I do wonder what people look like though. I often see a lady near me who wears a niqab, and I'd love to know what the rest of her face looks like. Her eyes are always made up very nicely and I'd like to know if she does the rest of her face to the same standard or just leaves it. I'm probably just nosey though I'd probably wonder even more if they were in a burqa, I spoke to them and heard their voice but didn't have a face to match it to.

You think France banned it because it's scary...?!

I entirely agree with Joysmum

joys why do they want to be kept from the eyes of the world? i haven't studied R.E. for a long time and am genuinely interested.

The question could have been better put but I agree with Pigletmania.

The French position of dictating what can or can.t be worn is problematic. However I find it very difficult, actually impossible to be honest, to understand the mindset of why anyone wants/needs to wear it. There was a programme last night about the Naked Rambler-his choice is equally bizarre.

If the reason for wearing it is because of the need for women to be modest in their dress then sorry, that does make me very uncomfortable.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burqa how does a woman have freedom of movement and vision in this!

Yes, have you? For all you know I could wear one each time I leave the house! (I don't, however my close friend wears a niqab and she's never complained. Even done a little jog for the bus a few weeks ago, believe it or not.)

Talking, the Koran calls for both men and women to dress modestly. The face veil is not called for, it was a regional item of practical clothing which it is no longer necessary to wear. If men don't have to wear it, some men don't either.

Perhaps I react the way I do is because it represents extremist, the Koran doesnt suggest wearing a burqa, just dressing modestly,and I believe extremism in all forms can be very dangerous

I was a little taken aback by it when I moved from the leafy shire to East London but that was just adjustment. Now I figure that if it really is by choice, good for them, if it isn't then well I guess we can never know.

What I don't understand is the argument that the headscarf (excuse my lack of terminology) is about modesty yet you often see young girls (as young as 6ish) wearing them. I'd quite like to know why, purely out of interest. Does anyone know?

I don't know how anyone can claim that women freely choose to wear the niqab. There is a huge amount of social pressure on them to do so. It is a bit intimidating and unsettling to see someone dressed in a tent with their face covered, that's the whole point of it - to keep the woman separated from the rest of the world. We are humans, a social animal, we look at each other's faces to communicate.

I agree Caitlyn a woman can dress modestly without having to restrict her. It probably was designed by men to restrict women, they would find it very difficult to drive, do their job or study wearing one.

Yeah! ....and what about all those nuns and their habits totally terrifying

My one and only problem with the burka is that men don't wear them, too.

I'd have far more understanding and appreciation of the notion of it being for modesty reasons, if men also had the same modesty requirements...

Joysmum why do the eyes of the world have to be kept off them?

To me that's in the same line of thinking that tries to justify rape because "she must have been up for it, she was wearing a short skirt."