The initial quote of mine that you reacted to was lamenting over the fact that this isn't designed to actually help integration. I nowhere said nor stated a belief that the burqa shouldn't be banned but that any liberal intention is completely pretend.
We should ban the Burqa if we think it is something that will aid women and help integration with our culture. We shouldn't ban it on the premise that it makes us uncomfortable or even that we just dislike Islam.
Now, you may ask 'what's the difference, it achieves the same goal! No Burqas!'
Strictly, yes. However the issue is that outright banning a symbol - in the minds of some, not in others, its an important debate but not necessarily my interest here - of female oppression does not end oppression on women. Why do some men force their wives to wear it? Because they shouldn't be looked upon by other men. Now, if you ban the Burqa are those men going to be like 'ah fuck it, wear a hijab then!'? I worry not and I worry that instead these women - and by extension, young girls - will become housebound.
If you have a moral argument, great and I tend to agree with you but when the 'right' do things like this they do it for reasons that don't solve the root issue because their issue never was the oppression of women but a distaste for Islam and symbols of it.
So I would like to think I'm not just being partisan for the sake of it.
Yeah, I mean I guess my thoughts are mainly outlined in the reply above but yeah, I get what you're saying.
Issue is that sometimes symbols of oppression skew in a modern context. Islam favours modesty, Western culture favours sexuality. Almost all women's clothing and fashion in Western society is conform to the sexual ideal. High heels, short skirts, etc... were all something designed by men to make women look presentable and appealing.
However, what is this now in the modern context? Would you believe a woman is oppressed to conform to this standard? I would say that women make these decisions as a choice because they want to live up to the societal ideal, the same reason I dress and groom the way I do. In modern society this does, however, manifest as choice and I'm sure many women in Western cultures choose to dress in an Islamic fashion because of their ideals.
Now, are some women forced to wear the Burqa? Absolutely. Should that be illegal? Yes.
Like you said, it's complex. I'm definitely somewhere in the middle here so I'm not trying to say it should or shouldn't be made illegal.
