Women! Put On Some Clothes! No, Not That Many!

We know I've been following the #losetheladsmags debate for a while. "No it's not about nudity!" scream supporters as they continue to quote parents saying things like "I don't want my little one seeing those pictures when I go shopping!" (because who can turn down an opportunity for a proper "Won't somebody think of the children?" scare quote, even if it undermines your stand that it isn't the pictures that are the problem?). I'm currently playing a game of pointing out objectifying comments made by people who support #losetheladsmags. Great fun, almost as much fun as "spot the puritanical Christian supporter".

Well now that the New Puritans are winning a few battles there, we have a new front in the war against women getting to choose how much clothing they wear opening up. Again. "Ban the burkha" has now become "We should have a national debate on the niqab". I totally agree with Simon Jenkins who hopes we can be spared such horrors. Absolutely the niqab shouldn't be a "get out of doing anything a reasonable person should be expected to do" card and individual organisations should discuss how it may effect the way they work (as we've seen today with a judge ruling, relatively fairly, on whether a woman could testify in her niqab). But the idea that the Government should help police bans on what clothing someone can wear is not just absurd (though it definitely is that) it is fundamentally disturbing. 

I do not understand this urge people have to control what people (mainly women) do with their bodies and what clothes they wear. We need people to stand up against these disgusting campaigns to undermine women's right to choose. Look at this update from a #losetheladsmags/Labour meeting today

Sophie: this is not about individual women's choices, it's about a culture which defines women by their appearance #losetheladsmags
— Josephine Suherman (@Jo_Suherman) September 16, 2013

Wasn't feminism about freeing women from having decisions made FOR them rather than letting them individually decide? Deciding how many clothes a woman must wear before she can be let out of the house should be something we left in the last century. Sigh.

Burka ban ruled out by immigration minister

Despite my misgivings about the Coalition, I have to say they keep saying a lot of nice things about civil liberties (except on the 28 day detention extension, which makes me quite angry). Damian Green has made clear the Government's stance on any proposed ban of the burqa:

“I stand personally on the feeling that telling people what they can and can’t wear, if they’re just walking down the street, is a rather un-British thing to do,” he said. “We’re a tolerant and mutually respectful society.

“There are times, clearly, when you’ve got to be able to identify yourself, and people have got to be able to see your face, but I think it’s very unlikely and it would be undesirable for the British Parliament to try and pass a law dictating what people wore.

Amen to that.

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First They Came For The Burqa...

This week has seen renewed efforts to ban the burqa both in our country and in France (a country I can see from the end of my road!).

Whilst the British story is more of a legislative joke, the tone of Philip Hollobone MP is pretty offensive. As a MP he doesn't really have the right to pick and choose which constituents he will meet and talk to just because of what they are wearing. We must stand up and point out the ridiculous nature of the suggestion he wants to ban people from wearing an item of clothing and won't even talk to someone wearing it! Is he saying it is okay for religious symbols and clothing to be banned? Will he now stand up for Government bodies who ban crucifixes? I don't think so.

In France, the National Assembly has vote to ban the burqa. Whilst this is not the final stage of the process, it is incredibly disappointing that a country founded on the concept of liberty would try to stop people choosing what they can and can't wear.

Now I understand the issues behind the burqa are intensely complicated. But dealing with them by banning the burqa is, as Liberal Vision says, about as sensible as banning black eyes to stop domestic violence.

Government should not be telling it's citizens how to live their lives. That is the basic foundation of liberty.

If you feel benevolent and particularly generous, this writer always appreciates things bought for him from his wishlist