tue 12 apr 2011 16:04:09 — witte de withstraat
veil outlawed in france
in the last few days, french police have started arresting women who wear face-covering veils. there's a law against the burqa now. but they haven't started arresting people in motorcycle helmets yet, because motorcycles aren't islamic.
they say wearing the niqab is a sign of women's oppression by men. which it may be. then again, all religions are oppression by men.
it's strange that ito be rescued from oppression by some men, women need to be oppressed by other men -- arrested, that is. nobody believes the women deserve to make up their own minds about how they dress.
for argument, let's assume a woman is wearing the veil because of her oppressive male family. when she removes the veil, does the oppression go away? of course not. a bare-faced woman is just as vulnerable to slavery as a veiled one.
people attack symbols when they are too lazy to attack the real thing. you can't fight for liberty by telling people how to dress.