Metal Reviews

The burkas were important in the middle east. It wasn't about religion. They have frickin sand storms all the time!! But many if not all, consider it a religious obligation, crap!!! Here in Malaysia, most of the Muslim women wear headscarfs only, and we respect them for that. It's the Arab tourists who come with their burkas and scare the shit out of everyone, even the local Muslims!! I was at a water theme park couple of months ago and what I saw made me really sad.......

The (bear-like hairy) men were only clad in tight undersized trunks, splashing their way into the pool, while the women, clad in their burkas, sat on the benches watching their husbands and kids play. It's pretty unfair isn't it? You know what I think? It's the men who needs to wear burkas!! They're fuckin hairy and scary!!! The women, mamamia!!! Their eyes!!!!

indeed, i noticed the same in a trip to Dubai in 2005, although the women there just went in the water in their burqas. also, my sister said she saw a few remove the burqas in the bathrooms and that they were all, like, really hot. goddamn conservative muslims not sharing their eye-candy.

Untrue, the women are rather hairy too.

true, 80% of those women here have moustaches or sideburns even

But they're still HOT right? I'll bitch slap you if you disagree

I really don't think sand storms has anything to do with female burkas nowadays for obvious reasons, and thus it is okay to asume that it is a matter of religion - despite culture and religion being greatly intertwined. One could argue that certain male dominated cultures just use certain passage in the koran to their own benefit. This doesn't mean that it is a religious obligation, if you know what I mean, but burkas and Islam are still greatly connected to each other in a culturel context.. uhm.. yes...

Weither burkas are worn because of religion or not, I still don't want any of them in my country. I can't wear skimask, or KKK clothes either in public. Not only does it make conversation troublesome, I certainly want to know the face of the one i'm talking to, and it's also a matter of security. If everybody covered up their identity you could rob banks and what not, and nobody would know who they were supposed to arrest. Some terrorist has also tried to dress up as women in burkas hiding bombs underneath the clothes.
Besides, i think burkas are scary and oppressive - I know some muslim women find it liberating to wear a burka. Either they are just retarded feminist or brainwashed to think so. " aaahhh... wearing a black burka in the dry heat... that's sooo liberating.. tsk tsk.. lol.. omg... look and my half-naked little husband - he's so oppressed and stupid."

European women were obliged to cover their hair in public in the Middle Ages. Then, we grew up.

Just to come in as devil's advocate here, are you seriously worried that under each black cover hides an evil mind bent only on taking over the world? Do I have to point out the racist analogies?

They might be hiding terrorists under there? Sure, but in a situation like this when any muslim could potentially be a threat, does it make that much of a difference? Watch people on the street, they act like any black-robed figure is a swarthy gent packed full of explosives. It's ridiculous. What about the Irish student there with a backpack, since the Irish have actually done more damage to this country with bombs than the Muslims have? Ridiculous.

Right on, Zad.

What a crappy argument against allowing people to wear the burkha this "security" line is. Fuck, just imagine the fuss a white person would kick up- with complete justification- if they were asked by the government to take off their scarves, balaclavas, dark glasses, big hats, or whatever else they may wear on the street that obstructs their face. Of course, it is fine to say essentially the same thing to Muslim women....

There is, of course, the notion of conforming to the customs of the nation you have chosen to join with your illustrious deadbeat selves. That is far more valuable than any security consideration.

You may be right, but how will you react if, one night, walking down a street, you (or better yet, your girlfriend) would come face to face with four guys wearing these:


Seems to be all the rage in UK fashion, says Yahoo, and police seem worried.

I live near several quite rough areas, and I've seen nothing (as hilarious) as that. Obviously, if it's a gang uniform or something of the sort and they were carrying baseball bats, I'd run. But it's a different matter; thugs are thugs, whatever they wear. Women with covered faces are a different ballpark altogether.

Edit: oh, and fuck Yahoo News, that looks nothing like a burqa, more like something that'd feature in a Superman comic thirty years ago.

"Mil Mascaras? I've always been a huge fan! Why are you wearing that around on the street for?"

Values including pluralism and religious freedom, eh?

I've never seen anyone dressed up as a KKK/alien hybrid where I live.

I think we've discussed how bored the youth are in Western culture in past threads, but in truth I'm far more concerned about hooded Chavs than anyone wearing a Burka.

We could rant on all day about how much we hate a different culture, but it boils down to ignorance because the media spends too much time fear-mongering. A mob in the street burning a Union Jack/Stars & Stripes is much more news worthy than a bunch of bored 14-18 kids going around in hoods, happy slapping innocent passers by.

No one's perfect, but I think there are bigger issues on the streets of our own countries than what people are up to in other countries. Shit man, I got beat up two months ago by a gang of said Chavs, all because I look a bit different and told them to fuck off after they yelled abuse at me.

My bad for retailiating, but all I got was a black eye with no long term damage and they're gonna get 3 months inside! The point is, if I'm white, British and have long hair but still get victimised, then I feel sorry for those from other cultures living here who get victimised much worse for following their beliefs.

Educate the masses at home first, I say... Probably why I'm off to Uni to start my long winding road to becoming a teacher.

I think when you migrate to a different country, or just as a tourist, you have to respect the culture of the new place you're in. Headscarves are fine, burqas are extreme. Here in Malaysia the Muslim women only go as far as wearing headscarves. Even in my college (which is a government funded public university), Muslim girls are encouraged to wear their headscarves, but burqas are totally banned. Of course, if you don't wear your headscarf, it's not a big deal.

Well the thing is, I'm not sure of the exact statistics but I'd imagine that a very significant proportion of British burkha wearers are British citizens who have lived here all their lives.

Often most recent arrivals are very willing to anglicize themselves, because they see it as an opportunity that they are grateful for to live and work here. The difference often comes with the generation gap: The children of these immigrants don't feel like they owe the country anything, and because they often get very little from it they feel like they, in turn, have little reason to go along with traditional british culture, whatever on earth that may be.

Um, right. Do you have any idea that Muslim feminists might see the burka as a symbol of their national, gender and religious identity, and the removal of it to be a corruption of their traditional values with western values? Grow a vagina, then talk. Seriously, values like that are entirely subjective. If they find it liberating, then it is liberating. It's liberating to them. Also, I've worn a heavy woolen jumper in dry heat. It actually feels somewhat cooler and protects people from sun burn. Sheesh.

Karmakosmonaut -
As an immigrant I can tell you that there are relevant values and irrelevant values for assimilation. The general rule is "obey the written laws of the land and major moral codes and be fluent in the local language". As long as you don't hurt or harm anyone, it's fine.

Moving to another country doesn't mean abandoning your roots - it means adjusting to laws while retaining your cultural identity and adding new elements to it. Muslim men who rape women for not wearing burkas - those have failed by disregarding the law. Muslim women who wear burkas and don't hurt anyone - what's wrong with that, seriously? It makes people uneasy? HARDEN THE FUCK UP. Seriously, a society is not a Borg collective.

Let's take is as a distribution of freedoms case. Freedom to wear whatever you want within the constraints of indecent exposure and profanity laws is generally considered to be a better kind of freedom than freedom from seeing dress that doesn't fit in with your culture. The first freedom is more widely applicable, and the legislation for the second freedom would be ridiculous and impractical.

Your opinion reminds me the most of a local current affairs program that periodically has stories about the Asian population here and how horrible they are for not knowing who a local sports star is and not tasting Pavlova. Yeah, knowing what Pavlova is is the sole standard for citizenship.

Excellent post!



Damn straight.