Dress Accordingly

Not allowed here, huh?

     Evidently, we have a double standard in our continent. Other countries have placed a ban on the niqab. France banned covering the face. Some Canadians and Americans are trying to pass the same ban.

    I watched a Muslim in a video talking about how dressing like this can de-sexualize a female. It is true that women are sexualized by showing as much skin as we can. I also see how a child in Muslim attire is sexualized at the age of three. Even if you are being as modest as possible, you are still sexualized because even these women are raped. Men still know that there is a woman under there.

    I can see the point on both sides. Modesty can be power because you never know how intelligent that shrouded person is. I think they are quite lovely and I cannot help looking at them in awe. I support them because they are simply expressing their religious rights. It angers me when someone says that they cannot dress this way, especially in America.

   People have been posting this meme of women fully covered stating, "Not in my country." Well, what about nuns? What about priests? What about Jews? What about the Latter Day Saints? They wear their religious attire and nobody is banning that.

     While people are stating that it has something to do with suppression or modesty, I think that it is more complicated than that. Instead of focusing on real issues we are blaming our problems on the way a woman dresses. Historically, we have always done this and it does not make it okay.

     Perhaps it is the history here in America. Not only did women fight for suffrage, women also fought for rights to wear whatever they wanted. These were rules that applied before and after church. Today, most faiths require that women wear a dress to church. Back in the day, women had to be modest.

     Women had to wear modest bathing suits. Come to think of it, I think men also had to be this way because their shorts were longer and they wore a tank top. A woman could not wear pants or even cut her hair short. People who were against women bobbing her hair sent out flyers stating that cutting your hair causes you to grow a beard. Women were even fined for wearing pants.

     It is possible that we still have this notion to state that a women dressed as a Muslim is being suppressed because we were suppressed at some point in our history. We dress the way that we do because we can and it is our right that we fought hard for. Why wouldn't anyone else want to take advantage of that? Because people have that choice in America. I will wear a dress or pants, but I normally wear pants because they are more comfortable.

     What makes this more interesting is the fact that most people are still fighting for women to cover up while they are fighting against women covering up. Nursing mothers are fighting for their right to feed their infant in public places instead of a public restroom. Women in a burka or niqab must lift their head dress to drink or eat. Someone who is breast feeding must lift her shirt to feed her child. Oh! It is the breasts! Well, breasts are used for advertising. Even Victoria's Secret (who sells bras) is against breast feeding. Most cultures will not allow it, but nobody is saying anything about a breast feeding cow, dog, or cat.

     Perhaps it is racism. Most people here are hateful of blacks, Mexicans, and Arabs. If an Arab is dressed a certain way, they are subject to violence. People attack them as though they did something wrong. Nobody leaves anyone alone, do they?

     If we look at someone we consider a thug we attack them for what they are wearing. Most states have a ban on sagging jeans. People make fun of them. Anyone who is wearing baggy clothes is automatically a criminal. In most cases it is offensive because you can see their underwear. It is their choice to dress this way. Maybe some day they will grow out of that phase and stop wearing those clothes. I know I dressed the way I wanted when I was younger; I wore pajamas to school every day. Nobody said anything then. So, I really don't care how someone dresses. It is a free country. You cannot tell someone how to dress.

     Perhaps it is just fear. From time to time, people fear for the worst. This makes Americans act out irrationally. When there is a school shooting, schools freak out and start expelling students for wearing kilts and dyeing their hair purple. Then it dies down and starts all over again.

     After bombings in Africa and France, people will understandably ban facial cover. There have been bombings where the bomber (male or female) was dressed in a burka. Men dressed in burkas have been arrested for bomb threats. People in a burka have even robbed banks. Men have dressed in drag to rob a bank. Maybe we should ban cross dressing while we are at it. We should also ban al forms of entertainment and sedate everyone.

     In fact, why don't we ban trench coats and book bags? Why consider woman in Islamic clothing a threat when there are numerous of other threats? Eric and Dylan regularly wore black trench coats and they shot students at Columbine and set off bombs. James Holmes was supposedly dressed as the Joker when he shot everyone in the theater and his apartment was full of bombs. 

     You don't even have to dress a certain way to be considered a threat. The Boston Marathon bombers were wearing baseball caps when they dropped off the book bags containing the pressure cooking bombs. There are other ways to be a threat. The 9/11 hijackers used box cutters and fake IDs.

     We should not feel threatened by someone who is wearing anything of any religious significance. We should feel threatened by the ones who are inducing this fear into our system. Why? Because they are the ones inciting violence. They are the ones who are encouraging hatred. Hatred will only shroud the real problem. We are unable to prevent anything from happening because we are attacking people who have nothing to do with it.

     Leave women wearing what they choose to wear alone. Women are already subject to hatred and violence that people get away with. In addition to that you are telling them what they are wearing is not allowed in our free country? Leave them alone because it is quite clear that it does not matter and they are obviously not a threat.