Would you consider the hijab/burqa degrading to women and why?

[Clueless Morgan]

why the control over only women tho? Why not make men wear goggles?  Or blinders?  Or oven mitts?  Why send the message to women that exposing their faces and hair is just too tempting for men so they must be the responsible party and cover up?  Why insinuate to men that they are lustful monsters who can't control themselves?

Because that would be weird(er)?

I hope you're joking.  Whether something is weird or not should never be used as a justification for foisting sexist ideology onto people.

Not all women are forced to wear it, some choose to, even in societies that frown upon it like in the west.

That's true, but you must surely concede that in certain circles, especially where there is lots of Saudi money corrupting people, there is pressure to 'fit in'. There's a choice and then there's a choice. I think a lot of pressure is put on some women, but because these people didn't force it upon the woman they can easily say: "Well nobody actually 'forced' her to wear this thing".

I had a friend in high school whose family was muslim and she wore a hijab.  I never asked her if it was her choice, freely made, to wear it but I surmised later on that it wasn't because the instant she moved away from home for college she stopped wearing it.

Saying that "women aren't forced to wear it" insinuates that it is always their choice, freely made, to wear the hijab or burka and that is simply not the case.  In the west, there can be cultural or familial pressure to wear it. In many cases, more so in the middle east than in the west, the choice to wear a hijab can be a choice between whether they have a place to live or not, or whether they are beaten or not.

As MrNoMorePropaganda said, there's a "choice, and then there's a choice.