We live in an age where political correctness dictates our every public move and opinion. It’s very easy to say that everyone is entitled to their own thoughts but, in the grand scheme of things, society creates a hive mind of what’s ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. But what happens when a ‘popular opinion’ goes against the rules of political correctness and our right to free expression? This is what the British government is debating right now.
In a recent survey (September 2013), 61% of adult Britons voted in favour of a ban that would disallow the wearing of burkas in public. This follows legal decisions that Muslim women speaking in court must show their faces and the right for schools have the right to ban the wearing of burkas on their premises. I agree with these decisions.
Though everybody should be allowed to believe in what they want to believe, culture clashes will always occur. In the western world, women are essentially allowed to wear whatever they want (some take this liberty a little too far). Clothes are the most accessible ways to convey our personalities and self-expression. Burkas remove this sense of female independence and asexualise women.
If these women were given freedom of choice in how they wished to interpret their religion, I would not have such a problem with burkas. Most Muslim women, however, are heavily influenced by the men in their community. Others, particularly the younger ones, are simply told how they are allowed to dress.
This is appalling: not only does it create an even greater divide between men and women, but the wearing a full body veil stops women and girls from participating in a number of physical activities.
While banning the way anyone dresses in public might be considered very politically incorrect, it is also clear that double standards are being applied in Britain.
A school in England, for example, recently had to close for an extended period when it was discovered that it had rules requiring all female pupils and employees to wear a headscarf, regardless of their religion.
The issue here that needs to be addressed is that Britain is not an Islamic country. Like much of the rest of the western world, it is a melting pot of many different religions and ethnicities and cultures.
A Ban of Burkas in Britain
Lydia Breckon