Please uncover your face-Matthew Parrish

[mrsruffallo]

Interesting article here
I have noticed that there are more women covering up in the last few years.
Any opinions?

nancy, if it comes to a choice, i would rather talk to a veiled woman, than with displaying acres of flesh.
not in this country, but in the middle east, i have seen plenty of female doctors working in a professional capacity in a face veil. i dont know if they operate like that however. although their eyes have alwyas been uncovered, or at least only covered with glasses.

its all about what you are used to.

Yes stitchtime, but would you be defending the rights of men to do this in the same way?

its not something that has ever come up. but, yes, logically, you would have to. if women have the right to cover up, then so do men, if they want to. assuming the clothing is not causing a safety issue, then yes, i would defend their right.

Hmmm. Come to think of it, must be hard to get a job if you're veiled from head to toe? Has anyone met a veiled woman in a professional capacity?

Part of it may be they are less likely to be educated and in any case may well not be permitted to get a job.

The article distinguished between religious versus cultural reasons for wearing a veil.

What makes me uncomfortable are the restrictions on practicing one's religion by inferring that it's socially unacceptable to wear a veil in a Western culture.

I don't feel that I'm in a position to tell a Muslim woman how she should interpret modesty, or the Koran.

It's a slippery slope between saying a tradition is socially unacceptable and religious intolerance.

Whoa! Way to make assumptions, SomeGuy! After all, the posters here are assuring us of how independent and liberated these women are who 'choose' to wear a veil...

I was trying to consider the practicality of being veiled in my previous job (science), and figured you probably could wear a white coat over the whole black ensemble, but it might get a bit sweaty.

beastie, most professional women i know, dont wear the entire black ensembel in the work place. they wear what ever is appropriate, plus the headscar and veil combo in whatever colours they deem appropriate.
but a great many women who wear the veil, dont want to work outside the home. not sure why that is. but they just dont feel so inclined. ime anyways

Don't you think it's more a case that they're not allowed to because they would be forced to interact with men ?

SomeGuy - that's a ridiculous and incredibly stupid thing to say.

Ever noticed the number of female muslim doctors? I live in a large town in a rural county and was up at the hospital for most of my pregnancy. 85% of the doctors I saw, were woman who looked to me to be muslim (mostly wearing head scarves). The consultant who saved both my life and my daughter's life during a very scary delivery was wearing a head scarf with something accross her face.

I couldn't have cared less what she was wearing.

My neice's teacher wears a burka when she's out and about, but in class, as she is only with children, she wears a head scarf.

I know of two woman who are white British and loosely speaking, Christian, and their husbands don't want them to work, and have blocked their attempts at getting jobs. To think that only Muslim woman are oppressed by their husbands/families/religion/society is narrow-minded and ignorant.

I've never spoken to a woman in a face veil, but I've only seen a couple and it's not considered courteous to stop a stranger in a shopping centre for a chat!

I seriously find it astonishing that people think women should be prevented from doing something that has no impact on anyone else's freedom because they don't like it.

You might think it could be a slippery slope to religious intolerance by condemning face coverings.

I think it could be a slippery slope to a point where we have to defend the right of anyone to cover their face anywhere.

I will continue to dislike, and encourage against, the wearing of masks in public. Nothing to do with me 'just needing to get used to it' or hating what it stands for.

I know I would be massively uncomfortable if any men chose to do this - for fairly obvious reasons. As such there is no way I would defend a woman's right to do so. That is all.

How come no-one mentioned those poor Muslim men who have to wear big hot scratchy beards in this weather!! Hmmmm?!?!

It's all so very modern isn't it, let's look at a woman in a veil through how it makes me feel. How about just being a normal person. No I've never spoken to a woman in a veil because I'm not exactly the kind that goes up to random strangers and starts chatting, but in the maternity waiting room I smiled politely at the women in veils as much as I would smile at women without them. But then Bradford is my home town and so I grew up not to be so knee-knocking about people different to me.

What's wrong with people 'showing acres of flesh' though?
Since when did the human body become something we should be ashamed of?

I have worked very closely with several quite devout Muslim women who wear head scarves on a one on-one basis writing academic papers for several years. I honestly do not think I could have done that if they had worn veils - because writing and exchanging ideas with someone requires intense and frequent communication.

I have also taught many (perhaps hundreds) of Muslim women who either wore a scarf or no head covering at all. Teachng would have been made immeasurably harder had they been wearing veils because teaching requires frequent and intense two way communication.

Riven and any other Muslim women looking in - can any of you answer the questions I posed to KingCanute last night?

How will I (as a white Christian Western man)be perceived if I try to speak to a Muslim woman in a veil? Should I just assume the veil is a sign that communication by me to a veiled Muslim woman is forbidden but not a Muslim man? What should I do if I need to communicate with veiled Muslim woman for a good reason?"

Can any of you answer the questions Mathew Parris posed in his article when veiled women refuse to look at him and walk away when he tries to talk to them:

" This too, in Britain, is rude. Do they know? Shouldn't they? "

I smiled politely at the women in veils as much as I would smile at women without them.>>

Did they smile back?

Oh sorry you wouldn't know would you if they smiled or scowled in response.

Really? No friendships with men?
Why ever not?

Agree with Riven on this one.

As a white Muslim woman, I also find the hand shaking thing a tad uncomfortable...I never used to mind it, but since meeting DH's friends, they, when greeting me, tend to lay their right hands over their heart and pat in greeting and sometimes bow slightly and I found that so much more respectful and I liked the distance they kept.

I can remember meeting an ex pat and his wife in Syria and he was leaning forward to me, moaning that he couldn't find baked beans in the shops (he was a twat I have to say ) and I found the invasion of personal space by a man, quite uncomfortable after the respectful distances I'd been used to

I will of course, shake hands if I have to as I work in business and the majority of men I meet are not Muslims and its just easier to give a quick handshake than make a fuss - you can educate people far more about Islam if you are moderate and considered in your approach - well, that's my personal way of doing it

Women and men that are not related by blood - i.e they can marry, are not allowed to be alone together.

The family is central to Islam (you cannot be an Imam of a mosque unless you are married) and so steps are taken to ensure the sanctity of marriage is preserved and also, to ensure people don't end up attracted to each other and ending up having sex before marriage (if not married) or committing adultery. Its a big no no in Islam

Given the number of so called 'platonic' male/female friendships that wind up in affairs, I can totally see the logic in this!

Really? I've never had an affair with any of my male friends.

No, you may not have but the reality is that a lot of people do. The easiest way to avoid it, is to not mix. I don't have any male friends in RL and I don't feel I'm lacking in any way

Puss - how do you cope at work if you don't mind me asking? Are you able to have a meeting with a male colleague or business contact on your own?

I have many platonic relationships with men.I would be absolutely livid if my DH disapproved of these because he though we may end up in bed together!
I even think its possible to be attracted to other men but not do anything about it. That's completely normal, not every sexual impulse is acted upon is it?
Especially if you are committed to your family, as most people are.

I am sorry, I don't understand the reasoning behind that at all.