Beyond the Veil

[enitharmon]

I've never liked Jack Straw much, but what he said about the niqab the other day was right on the money and has since been twisted out of persctive.

In today's Grauniad, the Roman Catholic journalist Martin Newland has a rant about the right of him and others to express their faith without criticism.
I've said it before and I'll say it again - I'm no fan of Jack Straw's and I never have been but I know exactly where he was coming from on the niqab issue, and it wasn't coming from an attack on his muslim constituents in Blackburn.

There's one thing that separates the niqab of a Muslim woman from the turban of a Sikh, or the kippah or a Jew, or the crucifix of a Christian. When I was a child I was taught that it was bad manners to cover my mouth when I was speaking. Communication is about much more than simply making noises, it's about the movements, subtle and otherwise, that add inflections to the words. How often have any of us said, or been told, "Look at me when you talk to me"? I find it disconcerting when I can't see the face of the person speaking to me,

I lived in London for a number of years - in Notting Hill as it happens, an area where many ethnic groups and a wide economic spread manages to live more-or-less in harmony. In many ways that harmony is maintained by maintaining a kind of social distance. In Blackburn, on the other hand, as with much of North-West England, there's been a tradition of greater social openness. You see a neighbour, you don't just say a cursory hello, you stop to discuss the state of the weather, the health of the dog, and whatever else is on the agenda for the day. Walking to the local shops is a major expedition not to be undertaken lightly. In this climate, those who exercise their entirely reasonable personal right to stand apart will not become invisible but stand out, find themselves the object of curiosity and suspicion, and not out of malice. It's a bit like the person who goes into a noisy pub and demands that the juke-box be turned off because he can't hear himself think.

Martin Newland's faith is his right, and it's also his right to express it. What isn't his, or anybody else's, right is to demand that everybody else should share it. To my mind, faith involves belief without questioning, and it goes against my particular grain to take everything as a given and not to question it. Faith must be an individual matter. It should also involve respect for the rights of others not to follow it.

Ultimately, the problem with the niqab is that, whether the wearer intends it or not, it is seen as a criticism of the society around the wearer. Rather like the masks worn by militant cyclists, which may well protect the wearer from traffic fumes but which also make a statement about a traffic-obsessed society. Me, I like to colour my hair, wear lipstick, show my legs occasionally. I don't think that makes me a sex-object (as if!), and I rather resent the implication that I, along with the society I represent, am corrupt, depraved, and immoral.

I respect the right of anybody to make a stand, but that right should also involve consideration of the effect of that stand on others. After all, they think they are right, but I know I am right!

Comments

[fruhlings.livejournal.com]

I don't agree with treating women as lessers, but I feel, again, that if we are to support women's rights in Islamic societies, we cannot go in with a condescending attitude a la Heart of Darkness: "These poor, uncivilized people, knowing nothing of women's rights! We must save them from themselves!" I believe we can support feminist movements in the Islamic world without excessively judging their culture. Western society isn't the pinnacle of civilization, after all. ;)