The Egyptian government has announced a ban on the wearing of the face-covering niqab in schools from the beginning of the next term on 30 September.
Education Minister Reda Hegazy made the announcement on Monday, adding that students would still have the right to choose whether to wear a headscarf, but insisted it must not cover their faces.
He also said that the child’s guardian should be aware of their choice, and that it must have been made without any outside pressure.
Will this receive the same amount of outrage as the similar news from France?
France has banned Hijabs and Abaya robes in schools not just Niqabs. Egypt is preventing people from hiding their face in school, France is doing a lot more. I don’t think it’s directly comparable considering the Niqab bans at least have a safety component. Whos safer because school kids cant wear head scarfs?
Devils advocate here: isn’t the reasoning behind the hijab bans that it’s sexist, not a safety issue?
Not really. It’s a secular issue. France bans all religious displays in schools.
Yeah, that’s what I mean there’s no aspect of safety there. I don’t think it’s less sexist to legislate that no girls or women in schools can wear them them than it is to choose to wear one though. And if we just assume it’s sexist anyway, who is it hurting? It seems like over reach to use sexism as the reason to ban something that only effects the person who choses to do it. Does France ban any other sexist clothing, or just the ones muslim women wear? That may be a good insight into their decision making.
I agree in most cases. However it is an issue when it’s no longer a choice.
Anecdotal, but a church/cult where I grew up and went to school, forbid women and girls to wear anything but skirts. Now a lot of them maybe preferred skirts over pants, but it was never their choice.
Gotta say I’m on the fence on this one. Women should be allowed to wear whatever the hell they want, but it is a problem when a garment is occasionally forced on only them. I have no good solution
In France I imagine it’s a choice more often than not, but if its an issue when it’s no longer a choice, then a blanket ban on them in school poses the exact same problem as now many women who want to, no longer can or they face legal punishment. This ban likely applies to teachers too who are clearly old enough to make their own decisions.
Hope you’re right. Nice chat :)
Yes, but would it have helped to ban skirts?
I think there are a handful of solutions, none of them include a ban. Give women more autonomy over their lives, spread awareness, give help to those stuck in a shitty household forced to wear a niqab or hijab, get schools to actively discuss this choice of garment with parents and the child of it is problematic, allow girls to speak up without fear in schools, etc.
Stuff like this will cause gradual change (that is already happening). It may not be a big flashy bang like the news of a ban, but it’s actual gradual change.
Oh I absolutely agree. I have no idea how to give women more autonomy when they are stuck in these repressive households.
What you’re speaking of is how it should be, how to get there is not easy.
Hijab and niqab aren’t the same. The latter completely covers the entire face other than eyes. Hijab is just the scarf.
I think they were saying that the niqab ban could be justified for safety reasons, while you can’t really do that for hijab.
My initial reaction is the same as to the recent abaya ban in France. Opposition. I’ll need to read more about it though, because I think the motivations and outcomes will be different.
I recently learned that this ban on France doesn’t really including everything. Small crosses are okay. Some Turbans are okay. Jewish kids can go to Jewish schools. At least that’s what the wikipedia page said. I found the one about the cross interesting.
I was looking for that exact same thing.
Something tells me this news from Egypt will get a lot less press even though it probably is even more Important.