Should the Burqa Be Banned? Many Women Think No, But Others Disagree

By Sarah Seltzer, RH Reality Check. Posted July 13, 2009.

Just because feminists acknowledge the problematic roots of a practice doesn't mean that we can, or want, to bully it away. The way humans dress is an extension of our self-expression, our identity and an indication of how we align ourselves in terms of community norms and expectations. Attacks on individual clothing or grooming choices often feel deeply personal and can put people on the defensive.

The truth is, rarely will clothing choices not be loaded, complex and full of contradictions -- here in the US we have cheerleaders and beauty queens in suggestive outfits who wear chastity rings, and religious women who accent their modest clothing with perfume and Botox while toting a copy of Gender Trouble. Oppressive mainstream beauty standards may make modest clothing appealing, while puritanical religious customs may spur women to express their sexuality by stripping down. It's not so easy to reject patriarchal standards in their entirety -- if we didn't shave, wax, or wear makeup (or at times, conceal the fact that we don't) in strategic ways, we may well have a much harder time taken seriously by the world (except if the world were a hippie commune).

Open, nonjudgmental discussion of these complexities may lead some women to turn towards comfort and away from custom -- ditch their high heels or experiment with less modest clothing. But at the end of the day, different women have different reactions to what they wear. The feminist group Ni Putes Ni Soumises and other Muslim women have taken a convincingly strong stance against the burqa while some burqa wearers say it's a choice they make freely. Many women get a rush of happiness from high heels while other women curse them and wish their workplace was more accepting of less chic footwear.

That doesn't mean we should throw up our hands and refuse to examine the meaning and history of clothing styles and fashion expectations -- we should. It's important to note which styles of dressing get women rewarded in patriarchal societies and why. But when we do delve, we should delve holistically, not focus mono-maniacally on habits -- literally -- of other women.

Reproductive rights advocates strive for a society where choice means getting rid of social and legal obstacles to reproductive health access instead of criticizing women's individual reproductive decisions. When feminists talk about clothing we try to focus on getting rid of the gender, race and class expectations that feed into the way we dress and how we judge women's appearance. We need to continue to target the pressure, coercion, and legal and social compulsion that affects women, not women themselves. And imposing laws that regulate clothing does not accomplish that goal, but curtails women's freedom even more seriously.

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Sarah Seltzer is an RH Reality Check staff writer and resident pop culture expert. Sarah is a freelance writer based in New York City. Her work has been published in Bitch, Venus Zine, Womens eNews, and Publishers Weekly among other places. She formerly taught English in a Bronx public school.

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