Saudi Woman To Be Lashed For Driving

[Philtaz]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/...-middle-east-15079620

Only 10? It'll take more than that to instill decent driving skills into her.....!

Seriously, how can their government give Saudi women the right to vote yet continue to enforce such draconian laws?

[naomi24]

McFluff, //why do you need to see their face? // A simple scenario. Someone goes into a shop, shoves a load of goodies up his jumper, and walks out with them without paying, but he is subsequently apprehended because his face is recognised on CCTV. If someone in a burqa does it who are the police going to look for? Someone wearing a shroud?

The same applies to anyone entering, for example, an airport, with a bomb hidden under a burka. Police would have no hope of identifying them from CCTV, so there is a very definite security issue involved here.

Ichkeria, //However, simply banning it would make life pretty grim for many Moslem women, as many would probably be trapped at home.//

So we do nothing and, in effect, condone continued inequality and bullying? Yes?

Once men realised shopping, school runs, trips with the kids to the doctor, etc, were their responsibility, the women wouldn't be trapped at home for long!

Doc, burka-clad ladies would not be allowed to speak to you.

[ummmm]

<Once men realised shopping, school runs, trips with the kids to the doctor, etc, were their responsibility, the women wouldn't be trapped at home for long! >

Very very true!!

[mccfluff]

i could go into a shop with a cap on big coat, scarf wrapped round my face, same thing --- different clothes, admittidly that would look wierd in the summer but i'm sure i could find some way of disguising myself, actors do it

[ummmm]

Are you covered in snow Fluffster?

[mccfluff]

yup i was, i was even more unidentifyable (sp) that day. they throught i was yeti when i went into m&s

[DTCwordfan]

Aren't you a Yeti or cousin thereof, Mcfluff.

I would love to be in a burqa, in my soft lingerie, premium dress and ready to be submissive.

Seriously,the subject has been been debated many times here - it is not part of the Koran per se, it is a practice amongst certain sects or individual beliefs and there are women who prefer to wear the Burqa or Niqab with their Abayas. I can understand that want but then we do have the security issue to consider. An airport I take as it being "easy" to check, (female to female) but on the high street, well in the shops, banks, post offices, that is much harder and that is where the conflict lies. And there is the bona-fide argument that this is our culture and they should adapt - the trouble is that in this we are again steered to the rights of the minority and not the majority - and we are not talking about a subject fundamental to the advancement of society like, for say, the acceptance of gay marriages and partnerships - which should happen.

[naomi24]

mccfluff, //i could go into a shop with a .... scarf wrapped round my face, //

No, you couldn't. You would be asked to remove it just as motorcyclists are asked to remove their helmets.

[Ankou]

"You would be asked to remove it"

i doubt it. give it a go fluff and report back. pronto.
and pick up a couple of gu black forest gateuxs for me wil ya.

xx

[mccfluff]

rubbish - my avatar i wandered round m&S like that

on my way h ome from work i'll be wearing a scarf and go do my shopping i've never been asked to remove it

[mccfluff]

ankou

I. DON'T. SHARE.

[Ankou]

lol

they would probably think you were a "celebrity" in disguise.

[naomi24]

//on my way h ome from work i'll be wearing a scarf and go do my shopping i've never been asked to remove it //

And you keep it wrapped around your face while you do your shopping? Mmmm...

[mccfluff]

when its cold i do, look at my pic, that's how i was dressed

[naomi24]

If you say so.

[mccfluff]

lol

you go on beign scared of a dress and a scarf

[ChuckFickens]

You're in England, you should know you're expected to walk about in a bowler hat and pin stripe suit, anything else will just scare the natives.

[naomi24]

Fear isn't the issue - and Chuck, whilst other comments are no more than I'd expect, your contribution surprises me. This thread began with a news item concerning a woman being lashed as a punishment for driving, and we've gone on to discuss subjugated women. However, it seems their plight has fallen on blind eyes. I, unlike you who support the burqa, happen to care about women who, unable to speak for themselves, and without voices raised in protest on their behalf, have no hope of ever gaining equality, or recognition as people in their own right. By supporting the men who control them to continue to wield absolute power over them - which is precisely what you're doing - you're doing them no favours whatsoever - and you're certainly not encouraging integration. It's voices like yours that keep already suppressed females firmly entrenched in an appalling philosophy that emanates from - and remains - solidly stuck in the dark ages. And in 21st century Britain not only do we allow this to continue - some of us positively encourage it! Frankly it's shameful!

[Ankou]

most of the women i deal with who wear them say they do it out of their own free choice. so you would force them to change.

i would expect more of you than such enforcement. poor women having to kowtow to your standards and requirements.

[rowanwitch]

Should we write to the foreign office...or the Saudi embassy...

[ichkeria]

"This thread began with a news item concerning a woman being lashed as a punishment for driving, and we've gone on to discuss subjugated women. "

Biz-arre! Can't see any connection there!

The argument that burqas are a security risk because people might hide bombs under them is simply nonsense. People can hide bombs under anything, but in case you hadn't noticed, airport security has ways round that cunning dodge!

The argument that burqas oppress women is true to an extent, although many women wear them voluntarily. No one should be forced to wear one, in the same way no one should be forced to wear any superficial item of clothing, however the ban that has been mooted here (which also involves balaclavas) has nothing to do with women's rights.
I'm afraid I am going to have to say the word: "Islamophobia", and as someone else suggested "meddling in things that we don't fully approve of or understand" have a lot to do with it.
I don't like burqas, neither does my Moslem wife, but the arguments for banning them don't make sense, I am afraid.