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AIBU?

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Original poster

World Hijab Day

551 replies

Marzipanface · 01/02/2016 16:07

AIBU to feel uncomfortable with this day and also really irritated at the lack of discussion over this event from a feminist perspective. There seems to be a wholesale silence from the Feminist blogs and papers I subscribe to, and I can't find any discussion on here. No-one wants to talk to about it.

Just that really.

OP posts:
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5
stopfuckingshoutingatme · 02/02/2016 14:24

because it is fucking racist to pick on the hijab or suddenly be all faux-concerned with the perceived oppression of muslim women, and think the answer to that is to take away their right to dress how the fuck they want

YES!!! well said

Veritat · 02/02/2016 14:26

Has anyone on here said the right to wear the hijab should be taken away?

TitClash · 02/02/2016 14:26

There's no discussion about World Hijab Day because it doesnt exist.

I hereby announce its World Cheese on Toast Day. Will all the vegans get pissy? No, it doesnt exist.

FaFoutis · 02/02/2016 14:26

As far as I recall nobody said the right to wear anything should be taken away.

I'm concerned with the oppression of all women. Muslim ideologies do not affect only muslims.

Mistigri · 02/02/2016 14:27

mistressmia because discussions of the hijab invariably bring people's personal opinions about Islam into play. Using analogy can help to make the argument more general.

Personally I don't have any time for any of the abrahamic religions, all of which seem profoundly anti-feminist to me - but some people believe that Islam is a unique threat to women and I'd genuinely like to understand why that is.

venusinscorpio · 02/02/2016 14:27

Ive never met a muslim woman who didnt want to wear the hijab.

Pop on over to Afghanistan then. Oh wait, I'm sure you'll find people that would love to wear one. But they can't, because they have to wear a fucking burqa, which is even more restrictive.

Wearing hijab or other covering clothing so as to be "modest" is a rule that was set by men, for men, against women. The fact that women uphold it due to tradition, or feel associated with their culture because of it, doesn't make it any more a feminist act.

januarybrown1998 · 02/02/2016 14:27

Orthodox Jews impose very considerable limits on what females can wear and how they behave

Absolutely agreed. And I complained formally to BA when they allowed an Orthodox Jew to move seats because he refused to sit next to me on gender grounds.

However, I, and all other non-Jewish women are not being asked to wear Jewish hat, scarf or wig as a way of 'understanding' the religion.

Even debating the issue of hijab here has led to (mercifully few) knee-jerk cries of Islamophobia.

So I can only imagine the pressure being put on liberal women to wear one for a day.

I'd love to think that we could all wear each other's costumes and foster brotherly love and understanding.

But unless I've missed the point completely, this is a one-way request.

Still waiting for someone to answer my question btw.

Mistigri · 02/02/2016 14:29

branleuse it's certainly extremely illiberal to think that white Christian women can wear what they like, but not those uneducated oppressed muslim women ...

venusinscorpio · 02/02/2016 14:29

Women being forced to wear Niquab or to walk 3 paces behind men - yeah I can see that thats problematic of course

LOL. Yes, I can sort of see, how if you look at it in a certain way, from a certain perspective, it might possibly be "problematic".

Branleuse · 02/02/2016 14:31

well venus, thats because they have to wear a fucking burqua, and not a fucking hijab, which is a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THING.

CoteDAzur · 02/02/2016 14:32

"Ive never met a muslim woman who didnt want to wear the hijab."

I think you will find a trip to Turkey very educational.

Believe it or not, there are such things as Muslim women who do not wear the hijab and never will, including in the older generations of grandmothers and great-grandmothers.

Branleuse · 02/02/2016 14:32

its like comparing a boiler suit to a bikini

OhforGodsake · 02/02/2016 14:32

It's becoming racist to voice any opinions whatsoever these days branleuse and it's a lazy, uneducated way of of shutting down any discussion that might ruffle feathers. This is a democratic country where we have always enjoyed the right to discuss any subject. It's called FREEDOM OF SPEECH. And the hijab, niqab, burka, stiletto shoes, religion and political views are NOT off limits because you or anyone else says so.

venusinscorpio · 02/02/2016 14:33

It isn't a completely different thing, it's different in its extent, but done for precisely the same reason.

CoteDAzur · 02/02/2016 14:33

I do know the difference between a hijab and a niqab, by the way, having grown up in a Muslim country among Muslim friends & family.

FaFoutis · 02/02/2016 14:33

How are they completely different? Are they not worn for the same reason? 'Covering' or whatever?

Lottapianos · 02/02/2016 14:33

'And I complained formally to BA when they allowed an Orthodox Jew to move seats because he refused to sit next to me on gender grounds'

Well done you. How unbelievably insulting. What was BA's response?

Bambambini · 02/02/2016 14:34

Fuck it! fuck it, fuck it! just typed a lengthy post and my iPad crashed! Don't worry, it was no doubt a load of crap anyway!

venusinscorpio · 02/02/2016 14:35

its like comparing a boiler suit to a bikini

Except that no one is currently forced to wear either in any country worldwide, so there your analogy falls down. Well done for trying though!

Veritat · 02/02/2016 14:36

Branleuse, you said that people were suggesting that muslim women should be deprived of the right to wear what they want. I queried that, but you don't seem to have answered. Has anyone actually said it?

FaFoutis · 02/02/2016 14:38

Nobody said it, Veritat, I have read the whole thread.

Bambambini · 02/02/2016 14:43

"Misti, I really don't see the hijab as being any way comparable to stilettos or high heels. "

I can see the link, same with the pubic hair comparison. Women being conditioned to think they should look a certain way - Islam and hijab etc just takes it to a much more extreme level.

Branleuse · 02/02/2016 14:45

Covering your body for modesty is something we all do.

To which level we do it is culturally specific. That doesnt make us right and them wrong because we have different levels of it.

The level of it is everything. A woman being required to wear a hijab in public is no different to a woman being required to wear a top. Girls are required to wear more modest dress than boys. Thats the UK and America etc too.

Im no fan of islam. Im no fan of any religion, but I struggle to see what the big deal about the headscarf itself is.

venusinscorpio · 02/02/2016 14:47

So do you think anyone who criticises a form of restrictive clothing exclusively imposed on women is a swivel-eyed racist bigot, Branleuse? Otherwise I fail to see the relevance of your hilarious dailymash link.