Why do people get angry seeing a Burqa

[Thumpalumpacus]

This sentiment seems to be actually growing..
Any idea why this is happening? I happened to see an interview of the granddaughter of Hitler's financial minister who is apparently leading a party in Germany, not sure about that but apparently her position is that nuns that wear headscarf can do it but Muslims can't.

What is going on? Like most of you already know I don't live anywhere near where this anti Muslim sentiments are growing but I am curious as to why this is happening

It's gender discrimination in it's purest form. When Muslim men walk next to their burqa-clad wives and sisters fully covered from head to toe, I'll say live and let live.

The "nuns cover up too and nobody complains about them" argument doesn't fly, either. Male catholics who turn their lives over to their religion - priests - also wear a sort of uniform. I grew up catholic and saw many a priest in social situations - none showed a lot of skin or wore flashy chains or anything of the sort, they all dressed conservatively, in a similar manner as the women. Not to say that women are treated equally in catholicism but this particular argument about what nuns wear is bogus.

-Teresa

There's also that whole "nuns volunteer, but Muslim women have it shoved onto them" thing.

Catholic women need not don any uniform at all. Show your ankles in Riyadh, though ... the muttawas will give you a love-tap or two.

[ErGingerbreadMandude]

I've heard Muslim women defend it as a way of prohibiting themselves from being looked upon and judged for their attractiveness (or lack thereof, as the case may be) and while I can't see any intrinsic flaw with wanting to do that for that reason, I don't for a minute believe that's the only, or even biggest, reason for them doing that. I'm fine with someone making a completely informed, free-of-coercion choice to accept certain stereotypical or perceived degrading roles like homemaker and parent with no higher education or career prospects if that is what they genuinely want. But if you're brought up in a culture that has a strong influence on not being given all the facts, not being given as many choices, having those with authority over you constantly influencing you to think or behave a certain way, that sort of takes the autonomy out of the choice. It may not be indoctrination the way we see some ideas form, but if opportunity is stymied, one can't really say a person is doing something like that of their own volition given how differently things might have gone with a broader spectrum of choice and knowledge.

Sure yeah, this is a good point. Like for example if I went to live in a first world developed country I would bring some of my country's culture along with me since they're so deeply printed in me because of living here for so long. That's the same for Muslim women too, when they spend so much of their lives in their culture of course they're going to feel more comfortable with it. Although the correct way to go about things would be to sit down and have a conversation with them. Tell them they don't really have to wear a burqa and nobody is going to stone them to death for it but finish with "if you'd still like to exercise your RIGHT to wear what YOU want to though, it's still okay, we just wanted you to know that there's an alternative.

Good. End it at that. Their decision. Not our place to dictate what they wear.

The wrong way to go about this is to FORCE them to wear what YOU think is good for them, deny them the freedom to wear what THEY want, try to strip them naked in broad daylight, assume they're weaklings that can't stand up for themselves (for all you know she's actually proud of being Muslim), all of these kinds of assumptions and prejudices won't solve anything. There's NO reason to get angry seeing someone wear a burqa. I also faintly remember of a incident where police forced a bunch of Muslim women to take off their headscarf in the beach or they had to leave.

A lot of people actually support outright banning the Burqa but that's basically the same thing extremists do forcing them to wear it and these people forcing them to not wear it. Shouldn't the FREEDOM of whether what THEY want to wear or not be left to them? I think it should.

[Catholic_Lady]

I will also add that not all nuns wear the conventional nun uniform. It depends on the order one is in. Some tend to be more traditional than others. There are many nuns who dress like your every day person, in normal, conservative attire.

[Astonished]

I've heard Muslim women defend it as a way of prohibiting themselves from being looked upon and judged for their attractiveness (or lack thereof, as the case may be) and while I can't see any intrinsic flaw with wanting to do that for that reason, I don't for a minute believe that's the only, or even biggest, reason for them doing that. I'm fine with someone making a completely informed, free-of-coercion choice to accept certain stereotypical or perceived degrading roles like homemaker and parent with no higher education or career prospects if that is what they genuinely want. But if you're brought up in a culture that has a strong influence on not being given all the facts, not being given as many choices, having those with authority over you constantly influencing you to think or behave a certain way, that sort of takes the autonomy out of the choice. It may not be indoctrination the way we see some ideas form, but if opportunity is stymied, one can't really say a person is doing something like that of their own volition given how differently things might have gone with a broader spectrum of choice and knowledge.

Sure yeah, this is a good point. Like for example if I went to live in a first world developed country I would bring some of my country's culture along with me since they're so deeply printed in me because of living here for so long. That's the same for Muslim women too, when they spend so much of their lives in their culture of course they're going to feel more comfortable with it. Although the correct way to go about things would be to sit down and have a conversation with them. Tell them they don't really have to wear a burqa and nobody is going to stone them to death for it but finish with "if you'd still like to exercise your RIGHT to wear what YOU want to though, it's still okay, we just wanted you to know that there's an alternative.

Good. End it at that. Their decision. Not our place to dictate what they wear.

The wrong way to go about this is to FORCE them to wear what YOU think is good for them, deny them the freedom to wear what THEY want, try to strip them naked in broad daylight, assume they're weaklings that can't stand up for themselves (for all you know she's actually proud of being Muslim), all of these kinds of assumptions and prejudices won't solve anything. There's NO reason to get angry seeing someone wear a burqa. I also faintly remember of a incident where police forced a bunch of Muslim women to take off their headscarf in the beach or they had to leave.

A lot of people actually support outright banning the Burqa but that's basically the same thing extremists do forcing them to wear it and these people forcing them to not wear it. Shouldn't the FREEDOM of whether what THEY want to wear or not be left to them? I think it should.

Thing is, when a child is indoctrinated and grows up to adulthood and you tell them, "Hey, it's cool now, you don't have to worry about getting kicked out of the house for not believing the same thing your parents do", they don't feel like dropping the faith because they've been conditioned into it with no freedom to choose otherwise. Yes, you could call it culture, but when there's deliberate prevention of exposure to other points of view, that skews how a person develops a sense of self-identity and precludes the curiosity or desire to pursue other avenues that they might otherwise have an interest in. If you want to call something freedom, you have to take that into consideration; for example, a Muslim woman who grew up in the U.S. is probably going to have a lot more exposure to alternative viewpoints (regardless of what her parents might want) than someone growing up in a third-world country, and have that much more opportunity to see things differently than the one-dimensional mindset that a conservative parent may wish to instill. Are they both equivalently free? If not then there's a flaw in your conclusion.

Like I said, I'm fine with anyone ultimately choosing to practice whatever they like as long as they are under no restrictive coercion or conditioning that restricts their freedom to explore as many alternatives as possible. That, sadly, is very rarely the case.

[ErGingerbreadMandude]

That's a pretty high standard, even non religious household will have effects on the personality and preferences of a little kid growing up to an adult. Children rarely develop a somewhat 'objective' level view of different things in life, of course the answer is never to force grown adults to adhere to what we think is good for them, especially for something as trivial as dressing.

[WinterHold]

The debate over this was so furious since 2001.. Worldwide. even in Muslim Arab societies where Islam and Niqab are so cultural.

Good. Those are exactly the societies where debate is most needed, right?

Nobody discussed Niqab in the media in this concentrated manor until 2001. Neither in the west; nor in the Middle East. After 2001, it became a cheap shot for many people wanting to win the general support of the west; despite the matter being as ancient as pre-Islam.

My problem with the Niqab springs from my problem with Sunni/Shiite doctrines and their consumption of human rights; especially in Arabic societies. But the world didn't actually care until the States said so; with lots of people who only seek to placate westerners.

If the debate is about women's right; we won't have a problem. But when the debate turns out to be that "Khalid is  a self-hating Arab who thinks that Niqab is embarrassing especially in front of westerners", I will raise a red flag; asking: what if westerners weren't watching? what if the Internet wasn't invented? What if T.V wasn't around? What if you had to live with your sister, wife, Sunni/Shiite Islam & the 4 walls around you only?

In other words; once the international community give you its back; Margret is back to her old habit.
There is no real change to the best. There is no root questioning of one's doctrines and culture, but there is a lot of self-hate, sexism, copy-catting the west's appearance, drinking Whiskey and think that is democracy, then it all ends with something like Syria and Iraq and Egypt, or India and Pakistan.