Friday, March 03, 2006
Do you find this image confronting?
Earlier this week, Australian PM John Howard made the following comment regarding the burqa, the traditional head-to-toe costume worn by some Muslim women (as in the above picture) :
"I don't mind the headscarf but it's really the whole outfit, I think most Australians would find it confronting..."
Personally, I'm an Australian and I don't find it confronting but seeing as Mr. Howard and I rarely see eye to eye on political issues, I'm not entirely surprised that I don't fit his definition of "most Australians".
But I thought it would be interesting to see what the rest of you think, Australian or not: do you find the full garb confronting?
Comments:
Why would you be intimidated?
Also, as an additional point, what on earth does he mean by "confronting"?
Howard's statement begins with the admission that he doesn't mind the headscarf in comparison to the burqa - which implies, therefore, that he in fact does mind the burqa - but then finishes the utterly vague, ambiguous and sweeping "I think most Australians would find it confronting.."
I was speaking on the phone to a friend the other night about this picture and he said a few things of interest:
1) That he didn't find the image confronting at all but rather that, if anything, it made him think of Star Wars - I think he went as far as to describe the woman as Obi-Wan Kenobi-esque...
2) Would I be confronted by the sight of a naked (or even just a bare-breasted) woman in public?
3) That it makes us think about how some Muslims in predominantly Muslim countries must feel when under-dressed Westerners visit.
Hmm...
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Why would you be intimidated?
Also, as an additional point, what on earth does he mean by "confronting"?
Howard's statement begins with the admission that he doesn't mind the headscarf in comparison to the burqa - which implies, therefore, that he in fact does mind the burqa - but then finishes the utterly vague, ambiguous and sweeping "I think most Australians would find it confronting.."
I was speaking on the phone to a friend the other night about this picture and he said a few things of interest:
1) That he didn't find the image confronting at all but rather that, if anything, it made him think of Star Wars - I think he went as far as to describe the woman as Obi-Wan Kenobi-esque...
2) Would I be confronted by the sight of a naked (or even just a bare-breasted) woman in public?
3) That it makes us think about how some Muslims in predominantly Muslim countries must feel when under-dressed Westerners visit.
Hmm...
