to stop shopping at M and S for selling hijabs for young girls

[worstmotherintheworld]

So M and S have started to sell hijabs as part of their school uniform range...aimed at primary school children. One reviewer helpfully suggests getting the small one for a 4 year old.

I have been shopping at Marks all my adult life and have remained a faithful customer despite some dodgy clothes of late and the uninspirational Sparks card, but I think this is going to be the last straw for me.

I will own that today is the first time I've seen a Muslim woman in a burwua and she was sat in a blingy art concession in a department store, clearly with cash to splash and not so typical of British Muslims. A few women around here wear the niquab but do travel alone in public but look grateful when I take her end seat on a busy bus and scatter my teen sons to others. Saves on awkwardness, whatever the motivation behind her headgear.

There are many wYs in which men oppress women and some of those that occur in our own society are pretty much overlooked as normal and trivial.

Why is it the slightest perceived criticism of Islam is deemed as a "good kicking" but there's loads of threads that venomously criticise Christianity and it doesn't even raise an eyebrow, and what do you find "racist" about people who object to women who wear the burka because it is seen as a form of male domination of women. I have stated that I see many women wearing the burka, it is dependent on where you live. Just because you don't doesn't mean it isn't prevalent in other towns.

Although in general muslim girls only cover their hair after puberty, many make the choice to start at a point clearly earlier than necessary in order to avoid drawing attention to milestones eg periods starting. In addition there a lot of strict modesty rules for women coming from all sorts of cultural and religious backgrounds, but it seems convenient to use this as an excuse to scrutinise Islam in a way that other religions aren't as a general rule.

hmmwhatatodo I hope you get equally annoyed at people who give Christians a "good kicking", not that I've seen anything like that on here.

But if wearing a hijab makes it possible for them to go to school and join the Brownies, that's much more important than banning them because of a Western idea of what a hijab means in terms of misogyny and the patriarchy.

Obviously it is terribly sad and wrong that the only way a little girl can go to school and join the brownies is by wearing a headscarf.

I kind of think that proves the "western idea" of what a hijab means in terms of misogyny and the patriarchy. did you meant to say that?

Putting hijabs on the same spectrum as FGM is as unreasonable as putting wolf whistles on the same spectrum as rape.

This would be funny if it wasn't so ... missing the point of why men think "rape" is ok is the kindest way I can put it.

Similarly to being in Saudi and I could not walk around dressed in vest tops or bikinis etc, I don't agree with the rights given to hijab wearers in the UK. But the bloodybuk has yo please everyone doesn't it. Anyone coming with me to build a church in Afghanistan? Nope thought not.

just cos in the UK we have this concept called democracy and if you start dictating what people wear, you kind of lose that somewhat.

I don’t see feminists worrying about boycotting Topshop because they sell bikinis and miniskirts and lipstick even though those subjugate women too. It is, as usual, an excuse to kick Muslims.

Of course Islam is problematic. Show me a religion or a culture that isn’t.

Are you anti muslim?
There's loads of stuff sold at M&S that i dont like,,,but lots of stuff i do like,,,and it wouldnt stop me from shopping there..

I really couldn't care less what anyone else wears tbh. I wouldn't wear a burkah or any other headpiece (except a bobble hat when walking my dog in the cold weather). Each to their own.....

I am amazed this provocative and prejudiced thread is being hosted by Mumsnet. Quite disgusting.

“, I don't agree with the rights given to hijab wearers in the UK. But the bloodybuk has yo please everyone doesn't it”

So you would actually prefer it if the UK became a prescriptive brutally repressive and intolerant regime? You would like to criminalise people who wear a bit of fabric on their heads? Dictate what people can and can’t wear?

Yabu...how odd. Its a headscarf...

In the west breasts are considered sexual when really they are glands for feeding babies. It is customary to cover them up. By your logic a bra is a symbol of female oppression. Shall I boycott M and S for wearing bras? If I walked down the street topless I'd get harassed and told to cover up. How is this different from the headscarf?

Selling bras even.

And we cover them up to avoid the male gaze...like headscarf.
If a section of society considers a body part sexual, who are we to tell them otherwise?

All the feminists who want to tell Muslim women how to dress need to give themselves a shake. It is THEIR culture, THEIR struggle (or not, depending on how they see it). Please let them dictate their own terms.

There are plenty of reasons not to shop at M&S. I’ve avoided shopping there for years because of the horrible clothes and poor customer service. But their selling hijabs isn’t one, for me at least.

Well, unless they’re selling hijabs instead of the clothes you normally buy then I don’t see why you’re getting worked up over something that doesn’t affect you in any way. Do you also complain when Cadbury doesn’t write Easter on an egg or when someone says Happy Holiday instead of Happy Christmas?

So you would actually prefer it if the UK became a prescriptive brutally repressive and intolerant regime? You would like to criminalise people who wear a bit of fabric on their heads? Dictate what people can and can’t wear

If my ds walked into M&S wearing one of their hoodies he would be asked to remove it. But if a Muslim girl walked in wearing this she could pass through the doors without anyone tackling her. (Ds from aged 5 was asked to remove his hood in M&S,Tesco and various stores)

The discrimination exists but not towards Muslims.

If a section of society considers a body part sexual, who are we to tell them otherwise

But if hair was considered sexual why do men not cover their heads

So many ignorant people. I lived in a Muslim country for years and hijab is not like burka. And it is about faith, not merely to avoid stares from men.
I love M&S, it would be good not to shop amongsts deluded feminists or racists.

Katie Hopkins go home.

All the kids who go to the school on my street wear them so I guess there must be demand.

I once worked overlooking a school playground near Aldgate in the early 90s. Nearly all the children were asian. There were no hijabs in sight in the playground.

I wonder why things have changed so?

As I understand it. The hijab is for girls who have reached puberty. It's not about "men looking at them" it's about being old enough to understand the importance of modesty in God's eyes. A little girl cannot be expected to understand this fully.
All major faiths have some sort of adolescence step - barmitzvah/bat mitzvah, Confirmation etc.
Happy to be corrected, obviously.