Friday, August 28, 2009

Headcoverings are not Hats

Headcovering news:

1. Muslim woman told to remove scarf sues Mich. judge

2. France: Woman Wearing Hijab Denied Entry By Bank (VIDEO)

The comments and reasons all complain that women should not be allowed to wear a head scarf because everyone else goes into courtrooms and banks (and pools and schools and basketball courts and etc.) and takes off their hat. Or graciously put, "doffs their hat".

Hat. Did you read that?

HAT.

Yes, they should take off their hat as a sign of gracious respect in the Western world. BUT.

A head scarf is not a hat.

Read this:

A brim is what makes a head covering a hat — without a brim, it isn’t a hat, but a cap or a beanie or such. So not only are hats not back, but we no longer even know what they were or what to call them.
Found this quote in "Political Mavens"' commentary: "Hats are not back," by Neil Steinberg.

The purpose of a hat, cap, beanie or such is very different from a hair covering scarf. The end result of a hat or cap or even do-rag before a bank video camera is different from a hair covering scarf. The look is different. Different people wear them.

Enough ignorance already.

See also, "It's not a hat, Judge; it's a hijab!" Feel the frustration.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Full Modest Swimsuit with Headcovering Banned in France

Yes, it's all over the news, if your news is set to follow articles with a form of the term "head covering".

The facts are: a woman in France takes her family to a local swimming pool dressed in the modern "burkini" style swimsuit -- it's OK for a while, but finally she is formally asked to leave -- the reason given is "hygienic reasons" (I can recall certain public pools that we cannot swim in with shorts and tops of any kind, for hygenic reasons).

So one cannot swim in public in France (and some other places in this world) if one wishes to be modestly attired.

If someone can give me the doctor's report on modest attire in pools being unhygienic, PLEASE pass it on. I don't understand this one, and am not willing to wade through the comment sections of the various reports on this to find it.

Here are a few, some with illustrations:

- http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/08/12/Woman-in-burkini-banned-from-pool/UPI-73581250121344/
- http://www.xpress4me.com/news/uae/dubai/20014554.html
- http://www.theweek.com/article/index/99470/The_ban_on_French_burkinis
- http://www.smh.com.au/national/burqini-creator-pours-water-on-french-ban-20090813-eiyk.html
http://bollywood.rightcelebrity.com/?p=1267


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EDIT: The hygiene rule was bugging me, so I wanted to pass this on to you all as well. The health issue as addressed in the press:

"An official in charge of swimming pools for the Emerainville region, Daniel Guillaume, said the refusal to allow the local woman to swim in her "burquini" had nothing to do with religion and everything to do with public health standards.

"These clothes are used in public, so they can contain molecules, viruses, et cetera, which will go in the water and could be transmitted to other bathers," Guillaume said in a telephone interview.

"We reminded this woman that one should not bathe all dressed, just as we would tell someone who is a nudist not to bathe all naked," he said.

Guillaume said France's public health standards require all pool-goers to don swimsuits for women and tight, swimming briefs for men - and caps to cover their hair. Bathers also must shower before entering the water."

Of course, I also found this comment elsewhere ...
"Just having people in a giant tub of water is pretty unhygenic. That's why they chemically treat them. So I think maybe the reason, isn't so reasonable."
For more on unhygienic swim pool behaviour, see this article at About.com

Monday, August 10, 2009

Reviving Hats

Blog source with photos and video you may really like to check out:

Many Hatty Returns -- For the love of hats

"This blog is devoted to hats and the worship thereof. It’s too bad that the daily wearing of hats has gone out of style for most people. You have to envy the people in the past who were able to wear the most extravagant hats.
The blog will cover basic hat information, reviews of milliners, hat making, hat accessories, hat history really anything about and featuring hats.
The blog was formerly called “Hat Nostalgia” but it has been renamed to be more all encompassing."

Photo here, I copied off of Darla's blog. Please visit her blog for more great stuff! Enjoy! :)