cartoon: women's clothing and feminism

[Squinch]

8. A necktie or a pair of pumps or a hajib is not comparable to being required to cover every

part of yourself, including your face so some stranger on the street doesn't beat you with a stick. There is a difference between modesty, even very religious modesty, and the erasing of the identity of women.

I understand that there are women who wear the burqa or niqab who say they do it voluntarily. I doubt it would be the voluntary choice for most of those women if other parts of their lives, like the husbands and fathers and mothers who required it, or the strangers with sticks on the street, were absent. Women in places that don't require them could choose to wear a niqab or burqa as well, but without those people requiring it, even conservative nuns no longer wear those things.

I am sure there will be those who say I am being disrespectful to those who voluntarily wear a burqa or niqab. Maybe I am. I just don't believe that it is a likely choice unless there is strong pressure from cultural forces that do not favor women.