Ban the burka?

[TalkToTheHand123]

Question asked in the commons today. Should it be banned?

But again, do you advocate that women should be allowed to walk around in bikinis or their underwear if they so choose, any place, anywhere? It surely is generally accepted that some clothes are in effect banned due to cultural norms. It doesn’t destroy women’s rights to enforce certain codes of dress for certain occasions surely?

And I just can't agree in principle that it's okay to dictate what people wear in any way unless they're intending to cause harm. Full stop. I like nudist beaches and on the other hand have been in very covering outfits with a headwrap and mask due to medical difficulties. That's my choice!

Why am I not allowed to go to my office in one then? I’d lose my job!

The fact is anyone arguing that we have free choice of our clothes is completely wrong!

Yes it should be banned. Many other countries have been successful in banning it.

I care about many things, and one of these things is women should be free of the burka.

I also care about being British - we are a people and we have a unique culture,which is not given the same weight as people who have a different culture and who have moved here, to my country..
I am not allowed a voice, without the usual slurs applying.
Little Englander. Racist. Fascist. Etc.

Theoretically, no, it should be absolutely fine, however, most companies will have some sort of dress policy which would mean it's unlikely they'd accept you pitching up in a Bikini. You'd likely be asked to go home and change into something compliant with policy, and then disciplined and ultimately sacked if you persisted/refused.

This is a question of what a company deems appropriate wear for their employees though, and is a different matter from a government dictating to citizens what they can and can not wear in public.

See how peaceful they are when their daughter has a kid outside of marriage or their son takes a husband.

Having policies in workplaces on a dress code is very different to 'banning' it in wider society though. You absolutely are allowed to walk down the high street in a bikini. Go for it. Which is what the OP is talking about. And unless you want to remove discrimination protection for all individuals with religious beliefs or would be unlawful and wrong to fire a woman for wearing a burka.

So uniforms for jobs should be banned? The Police, for instance, should be able to wear whatever they want?

why should nudity only be constrained to nudist beaches if people should be able to wear whatever they want?

Which is why women wear burkas in the first place.

Women in many Islamic countries used to wear traditional or western dress.

That was 2000 years ago? And stayed that way for 2000 years.

Not really.

Presumably then, since it's all about foreigners and foreign cultures, you have no objection to British Muslims born in the UK to British Muslim parents, also themselves likely born in the UK, continuing to wear the burka if they opt to, or are they still not sufficiently British and not sufficiently British "cultured" (whatever the hell that means) for you?

Islam is a part of British culture.

Contrary to the ridiculous point you attempted to make about Furries and so on, this is less about other people accepting other cultures, and more about the fact you can't seem to cope with British culture yourself.

People come to one of the most successful countries with some of the best, most humane laws in the world, freedom, equality, and democracy, that takes care of its citizens and try to change it into a shit hole.

If that’s the kind of country they were looking for they definitely wouldn’t have chosen the UK if this thread is anything to go by.

You're talking about workplace policies which companies are within their rights to do and make, unless it would discriminatory against protected characteristics. Being nude is not one of them. Religion is, and reasonable accommodations should be made.

There's nothing in theory stopping people being nude in public places. There's the naked bike ride in Hyde Park every year. There are naked ramblers, there are outrageously skimpy outfits on beaches everywhere in the UK and the world. I took my top off on a non-nudist beach the other week and nobody said nuffink. People's opinions about it aren't the same as something being 'not allowed'

they might able to walk down the street in a bikini but I think think many establishments wouldn’t let them in. They are completely allowed to stop people entering if they aren’t dressed appropriately.

I honestly struggle why religious dress is treated differently in the year 2025 than other dress. Why is there a difference?

And child abuse by the Catholic Church is also part of British culture but doesn't make it right...or nothing to learn from

Yes definitely the wearing of the burka and the niqab (not the hijab) should be banned in the UK along with halal butchering. I'm of the opinion that if you move to a country you adapt to their way of life. And yes when I travel abroad I respect their culture. As far as I can see those moving here (mostly) are escaping opressive religious practices i.e covering your face.Therfore why continue it in a liberal western society? Unless it's being forced. Aren't we ( as one of the only European countries still allowing this) supporting the oppression of women and their further generations?

People aren't stopping being allowed to proactive their religion, just don't cover your face in public.

Unfortunately my experience is that they are born in the UK and wish to proactive this way

It’s the don’t oppress and coerce women that I’m focused on

I honestly struggle why religious dress is treated differently in the year 2025 than other dress. Why is there a difference?

Define "religious dress".

Even if you assert the burka is intrinsically linked with Islam since it's almost uniquely worn by Muslims, it is not, in and of itself, part of a religious dress any more than an abaya, niqab, or any other item of clothing that might commonly be worn by Muslims is, so you are essentially asking for a ban on a item of clothing on cultural grounds, not religious.

Even if you accept it is a religious item, then you are off down the path of banning overt displays of religiosity in public spaces, and even if you yourself do not want to go there, someone else is immediately going to draw exception to seeing crucifixes, dog collars, Kippah, so on and so forth, at which point the law becomes an ass because it's clearly discriminating against one particular religion and not applying the same standard to the others.

That's true and again, you're then talking about establishments with policies, not laws. They are with their rights to do that, as long it's not discriminatory.

There's a difference because it's a fundamental feature of someone's life which they either cannot or should not be compelled to change about themselves. It is also actively discourages what could be productive members of society from participating in it. How can people integrate if they can't participate?

Banning someone from wearing a burka/hijab/turban/kippah doesn't mean they're going to take it off and change their mind. They just won't be able to work. Who does that help? Many of my colleagues wear hijabs and again. There is literally zero issue.

Then perhaps a ban might help them integrate more into Western society?