“One
of the major arguments being lobbed around this week as to why Muslim women
shouldn’t be wearing veils in public is because they are a symbol of male
dominance in society. As if knicker skimming dresses aren’t? ... On the streets
of our cities every night of the year there are girls in outfits created purely
for the pleasure of men.”
Alison Phillips Journalist
A woman’s right to choose is at the heart of feminism; also endorsed
by the liberal ideology of ‘freedom’. So, they argue that Hijab or the Niqab
should not be enforced in society, and it should be left to the prerogative of
the individuals. But surely, the notion of choice also implies that women should
not be forced to remove it either. Accordingly,
I was expecting to hear feminist voices coming to the defence of the right to
wear the Niqab, along with the bare-breasted women from ‘Femen’ running through
the streets of London, waving their fists, demanding the same. A disclaimer, I
used the term bare-breasted as an adjective, and this should not be taken as my
personal desire to see these semi-nude women behaving like cavewomen; it’s not dignified
for any woman or man to behave in this way, in my book.
Would the feminist and the liberal camp have remained
silent, if the situation was reverse, say a group of women in Iran or Saudi
wanted to parade in their miniskirts or bikinis? I know it’s not as raunchy as
Miley Cyrus, nevertheless, raunchy enough for a conservative Muslim society. You
can bet on them coming out of their holes, waging a campaign to ‘save’ the
Muslim women again, and the current fad of Zionist inspired Islamophobia would
guarantee favourable and ample media coverage.
