To Hijab or not to Hijab

[Pannonian]

Why are certain dress codes socially desirable or undesirable in the first place? Beyond not enough clothing or dirty/smelly clothing does it not get a bit superficial? And wasn't the west once proud of letting people develop such tastes individually? Being gay was once not socially desirable, was that okay? Socially desirable can quickly end in group pressure, suppression of individuality etc. It's a slippery slope. Today it's a burka, tomorrow male ear rings and sooner or later everyone wears a black suit.

The suspicion of people who have their faces covered pre-dates the current issues with Muslims, as the balaclava was a symbol (and cliche) of terrorists long before the burka entered everyday language. Wear one outside socially acceptable conditions (ie. when it's bloody freezing), and you can guarantee dirty looks, and extra attention paid to you to make sure you're not causing trouble. The current most common item of clothing used for that purpose is the hood drawn over the head and as much of the face as possible, and that's synonymous with troublemakers (I've seen shops prohibiting more than x number of youngsters inside at any one time). The burka and other Muslim garments do the same job, and at a minimum is subject to the same suspicion, but in addition is a mark of identifying oneself with a foreign state. One, moreover, that has attacked us on our home soil, and continues to undermine our state, on one hand luring youngsters away with the promise of a foreign state that's supposedly more in tune with them, and on the other hand making demands of us to allow them a say (cf. articles in the Guardian and other mouthpieces claiming their way to be the natural way for humanity).

Given that I'm not too impressed with British citizens who proclaim a preference for the US over the UK, and the Americans are supposed to be our closest friends and closest cultural kin, I have absolutely no sympathy for people who are even more alien to us, who make even more demands of us, who deliberately set out to go against cultural norms that even natives are subject to. Islam claims to be a state in and of itself, and in recent years has proclaimed its own official state. With its effective state of war with us, I see no reason to stretch our societal tolerances to allow for people who identify themselves with that state.