Part of the problem with Boris Johnson is, and has always been, his style of presentation. It’s as if he forgets he is an MP or former foreign Secretary, and thinks he is still a contestant on “Have I Got News for You”.
And his aim is very blunt, like firing off a cannon, hoping to strike a target, rather than the more careful shot of a telescopic rifle, which would enable him to hit his target with precision.
His target is the burqa, which as we all know, has been used as an instrument of oppression against women in a number of States, not least under the evil regime of the Taliban in Afganistan. And his criticism – it makes women “look like letter boxes”. It would be funny if it wasn’t so atrocious.
One of the most intelligent responses came from Baroness Sayeeda Warsi:
“Johnson’s words have once again validated the view of those that ‘other’ Muslims. They send out a message that Muslim women are fair game. “What starts as useful targets for ‘colourful political language’ and the odd bit of toxic campaigning ends up in attacks on our streets.“Muslim women should not be a useful political battleground for Old Etonians.”
Ironically, the point of his piece which was you shouldn't ban the burka, the niqab or the hijab!
What is worse is not just that the burka, and the hijab, have been used as instruments of oppression, it is that a whole education of women teaches them to accept that wearing it and being submissive before men, and that it inflames men’s desires.
So while it is fine to say “"I believe women should be able to choose how they dress.", that is a luxury which can only be said in a liberal western democracy.
As Mona Eltahawy notes:
“If a woman had a right to wear a miniskirt, surely I had the right to choose my headscarf. My choice was a sign of independence of mind. Surely, to choose to wear what I wanted was an assertion of my feminism. I was a feminist, wasn't I?
But I was to learn that choosing to wear the hijab is much easier than choosing to take it off. And that lesson was an important reminder of how truly "free" choice is.”
Rafia Zakaria, reviewing, “The Wind in My Hair: My Fight for Freedom in Modern Iran” by Masih Alinejad notes the limits of that freedom in modern Iran:
A plump cleric shakes a fist at her and yells, “Cover your hair, or I’ll punch you out of here,” when he sees a tiny bit of hair escaping from her hijab. We should all know what happens next. Alinejad, ever the reactionary, yells back: “All this fuss about two strands of hair. You should be ashamed of yourself.” The ensuing altercation has to be broken up by others. “I’m going to teach you a lesson,” the cleric says as he walks away.
And she calls for defiance, where defiance can be a dangerous thing:
It is while abroad that she founds the Facebook page “My Stealthy Freedom,” which encourages women to photograph themselves without their hijabs. The page, soon followed by hundreds of thousands of women, ignites a protest against compulsory headscarves.
Rafia coments that:
“The Wind in My Hair” exposes just how vexing it is to disentangle the veil from the context in which it is worn and thus to wage a transnational fight either for its permissibility or its elimination.
Let us not forget that December 2017, Iranian state media labeled UN ambassador Karen Pierce’s appearance ‘inappropriate’ while women’s rights activists celebrate pictures without compulsory hijab. As the Indepenent notes:
Ms Pierce is seen arriving for a meeting with foreign minister Javid Zarif with a scarf around her shoulders rather than over her head.
Mr Zarif greets the other members of the British party with a handshake, but instead of reaching for Ms Pierce’s hand instead points towards the ceiling with both hands, a gesture state news reported as the diplomat telling the visiting dignitary to pull the scarf up over her hair.
Mahsi Alinejad commented that:
“I was bombarded with comments from ordinary people who was shocked that how humiliating that a high representative of Iran [was] acting like the morality police. One of the women wrote to me that Zarif’s humiliating gesture is familiar to millions of Iranian women who are told every day to improve their [appearance], sometimes with fake smiles, sometimes using violence,”
And the Independent notes that:
“The hjiab has been compulsory in Iran since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Women face significant cultural and legal discrimination in the country.”
But in the aftermath of the furore of Boris Johnson, muddling the waters so much, who will take up their fight?
And his aim is very blunt, like firing off a cannon, hoping to strike a target, rather than the more careful shot of a telescopic rifle, which would enable him to hit his target with precision.
His target is the burqa, which as we all know, has been used as an instrument of oppression against women in a number of States, not least under the evil regime of the Taliban in Afganistan. And his criticism – it makes women “look like letter boxes”. It would be funny if it wasn’t so atrocious.
One of the most intelligent responses came from Baroness Sayeeda Warsi:
“Johnson’s words have once again validated the view of those that ‘other’ Muslims. They send out a message that Muslim women are fair game. “What starts as useful targets for ‘colourful political language’ and the odd bit of toxic campaigning ends up in attacks on our streets.“Muslim women should not be a useful political battleground for Old Etonians.”
Ironically, the point of his piece which was you shouldn't ban the burka, the niqab or the hijab!
What is worse is not just that the burka, and the hijab, have been used as instruments of oppression, it is that a whole education of women teaches them to accept that wearing it and being submissive before men, and that it inflames men’s desires.
So while it is fine to say “"I believe women should be able to choose how they dress.", that is a luxury which can only be said in a liberal western democracy.
As Mona Eltahawy notes:
“If a woman had a right to wear a miniskirt, surely I had the right to choose my headscarf. My choice was a sign of independence of mind. Surely, to choose to wear what I wanted was an assertion of my feminism. I was a feminist, wasn't I?
But I was to learn that choosing to wear the hijab is much easier than choosing to take it off. And that lesson was an important reminder of how truly "free" choice is.”
Rafia Zakaria, reviewing, “The Wind in My Hair: My Fight for Freedom in Modern Iran” by Masih Alinejad notes the limits of that freedom in modern Iran:
A plump cleric shakes a fist at her and yells, “Cover your hair, or I’ll punch you out of here,” when he sees a tiny bit of hair escaping from her hijab. We should all know what happens next. Alinejad, ever the reactionary, yells back: “All this fuss about two strands of hair. You should be ashamed of yourself.” The ensuing altercation has to be broken up by others. “I’m going to teach you a lesson,” the cleric says as he walks away.
And she calls for defiance, where defiance can be a dangerous thing:
It is while abroad that she founds the Facebook page “My Stealthy Freedom,” which encourages women to photograph themselves without their hijabs. The page, soon followed by hundreds of thousands of women, ignites a protest against compulsory headscarves.
Rafia coments that:
“The Wind in My Hair” exposes just how vexing it is to disentangle the veil from the context in which it is worn and thus to wage a transnational fight either for its permissibility or its elimination.
Let us not forget that December 2017, Iranian state media labeled UN ambassador Karen Pierce’s appearance ‘inappropriate’ while women’s rights activists celebrate pictures without compulsory hijab. As the Indepenent notes:
Ms Pierce is seen arriving for a meeting with foreign minister Javid Zarif with a scarf around her shoulders rather than over her head.
Mr Zarif greets the other members of the British party with a handshake, but instead of reaching for Ms Pierce’s hand instead points towards the ceiling with both hands, a gesture state news reported as the diplomat telling the visiting dignitary to pull the scarf up over her hair.
Mahsi Alinejad commented that:
“I was bombarded with comments from ordinary people who was shocked that how humiliating that a high representative of Iran [was] acting like the morality police. One of the women wrote to me that Zarif’s humiliating gesture is familiar to millions of Iranian women who are told every day to improve their [appearance], sometimes with fake smiles, sometimes using violence,”
And the Independent notes that:
“The hjiab has been compulsory in Iran since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Women face significant cultural and legal discrimination in the country.”
But in the aftermath of the furore of Boris Johnson, muddling the waters so much, who will take up their fight?
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