Listen / Read
Catherine Pepinster thinks our society places too much emphasis on looking attractive and conforming to a homogeneous physical standard. As usual Jesus doesn’t really have anything to do with that, but she pretended he did anyway, as per the requirements of this delightful little slot.
I personally think the topic is a very important one and am pleased something relevant to most of us was discussed this morning. But it becomes instantly irrelevant to most of us as soon as scripture gets slapped on the end. Not that she made a great start either. I think she might be missing the significant characteristic of the burqa, in that it conceals the entire face as well as the body. Predictably Catholic, she immediately jumped to the assumption that it’s all about sexual indecency.
I disagree with Sarkozy’s sentiments in that he seems to be advocating a sort governmentally legitimised intolerance, both of the religious variety and in terms of individual freedom. And while I don’t think for one minute that he’s a champion of feminism and do tend to think Pepinster is right to suspect some chauvinism on his part, it’s not fair to assume that Western difficulties with the burqa are about wanting to see a bit of leg. It’s about wanting to see a bit of face. Humans naturally communicate with each other through facial expressions, and losing this aspect of our personal interaction seems absurdly and unnecessarily impractical to say the least.
The commentary on the freedoms of women in Islam is drawn not from the burqa, but from the Western critique of the religion and associated cultural values in general. The subsequent value-laden conclusions are then projected onto the garb, despite the fact that only a minority of Muslim women wear it, imbuing it with a religious significance not explicitly derived from scripture. They project their values onto the burqa in the name of religion.
Pepinster tenuously related the burqa issue to our own society which might be said to insist on conformity while rendering invisible those who do not or cannot conform. Her advice to such nonconformists: accept Christ and go to France.
Very helpful.