Burqa or niqab- why can’t people get it right?

No-one, as far as I can see, has mentioned teachers who teach in mainstream (non-religous) primary schools but insist on wearing face coverings. IMHO, vert young children (infants) pick up so much from facial expression in teaching that it seems a disadvantage for the children to me that these should be obscured. Anyone else had experience of this?

I think it's a myth that whether it's niqab, hijab or whatever that it's a oppressive thing. I have female Muslim friends and neighbours and they're all strong independent intelligent women whether with uncovered hair or a full-face veil. Let women choose what they want to wear. European nuns don't get this sort of bullying for wearing similar clothing (because bullying is what it is).
My mum (agnostic married to a Catholic) never went out without a headscarf and no bloke (because it almost always is a bloke) tried to rip it off her head screaming hateful obscenities.
Lets face it, whether someone's wearing a micro-miniskirt or a niqab, some judgemental busybody who is so narrow-minded they can peer through a keyhole with both eyes at the same time will pass judgement.
It's not about clothing, it's about hate.

Thank you Maw Broon for the enlightening graphic. I for one have learned something.

I think the Niqabs is the face covering and the Burqa is the long flowing garment. They are 2 different things and they are called by different names depending on which country the wearer is from.

The streak is alive and well in comments like how do they keep them on, nobody wants to wear on unless they are making a statement, its about a patriarchal society and so on.

Its an item of clothing, favoured by some. Women pop it on over jeans and tee shirt and wear it outside. Big deal, so what?

Doesn't anyone remember the days when English women wore mourning veils? You couldn't see their faces or eyes and these would be worn for a year, often more and yet, as far as I know, there was no huge outcry about it.

Unfortunately, I detect a thin streak of racism (and what racist ever admits to it?) behind the criticism of Muslim dress.

No women wants to wear a burqua unless they are making a statement

People make statements with their clothes all the time.
Women who go to the supermarket wearing ‘active wear’ are virtue-signalling that they go to the gym & keep themselves healthy rather than sitting around watching TV all day.
Children in school uniform are making a statement that they are part of that school community.
Someone wearing a business suit is making a statement that they are in work mode, not slopping around mode.

Whatever statement burqa or niqab wearers are making, they are just as entitled to make it as anyone else.

crazyH a burqua covers the head and the body AND the face. It is not just a head cover.
It is nothing like a nun because a nun has chosen a religious life. Also her face is not covered up.

It worries me to see people attempt to normalize something that no woman should have to wear.
No women wants to wear a burqua unless they are making a statement!
In the countries where women are forced to wear them it is plain wrong. All about men controlling women.

I don't like these symbols of women's oppression and I also don't want to be guilt tripped into being all P C about them.
It is not true that any little girls wants to cover herself head to toe in a dark cloak and face cover.
They cover themselves because they have been taught to do so.
This amount of covering is alien to our culture and i prefer our culture.
Sometimes I wonder if being so tolerant of a repressive and intolerant culture is such a good idea?
Being multicultural isn't really truly possible. There has to be a dominant culture and I am glad it is ours.

Oh dear, I don't like Gransnet when people seem so aggressive about things. Clothing that covers the face, so making identification impossible, is surely wrong on many counts including security and communication. Other than that, I think people should be allowed to wear what they like. Schools can be an issue with uniforms and the like, but in a tolerant country like the UK surely we can find our way round these.

dont care what its called it should be banned as in my opinion it is a security risk!

It seems odd to me that some primary schools now include the hijab as an optional part of their uniform. Correct me if í'm wrong, but I upstand that this is only 'compulsorily' when past puberty, not on 7 year olds as I have seen. I think Ataturk was right in his vision of modern Turkey and think other nations could take a leaf out of his book

I agree, and it seems to me that the comparison with nuns highlights the fact that their faces are not covered - I'm sure that's why their clothing is not a problem to anyone, no?

crazyH information has already been posted on this thread about the differences - basically its whether the eyes are covered or not( with a netting) - imo this is an important difference.

I think a Burqua just covers the head....which is fine. My mum used to cover head when she went to church, which is almost the same thing.
But a Niqab covers the entire body, with slits for the eyes. That's a bit intimidating - one never knows what's hidden under those clothes.
I suppose it's just like the Catholic nuns..their 'habits' as they are called, cover the whole body, so why pick on the muslims? I'm a Catholic by the way .

Going slightly further back, it's interesting to see the Pit Brow Lassies, with their covered heads.

I don't think I ever remember anyone, in all the 72 years of my life, objecting to the way nuns dressed and yet there's a great similarity between the old habit (which has died hard nowadays) and the various styles of Islamic dress.
On the contrary, they were respected.

If anyone is still interested, there's are some neat little graphics on this site about various Islamic styles.
www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/24118241

Only one of my Muslim friends chooses to wear hijab.

I don't understand the comment about how " they" get them to stay on. Gravity, I presume .
The burqa is like a coat in some respects, you put it on over your clothes. Once you see somebody coming home and hanging it on a clothes stand in the hall and offering you a coffee, it demystifies the whole thing.

A niqab is kept in place with safety pins.

Actually I should start checking the date of the first post! Until MamaCaz pointed it out, I wasn’t aware you’d started it last August maryeliza

On the other hand I don’t suppose it matters if people still feel like contributing!

One comment from a friend from the Lebanon always stuck in my mind regarding burqas. She told me that the part that covers the head is very tight to the scalp. That way the man can always know where the woman is looking as she has to turn her head fully to the direction she wants to look. Controlling behaviour.

This thread was started by me because BJ was the one who got it ‘wrong’. Context is everything. However if anyone is actually going to give an opinion on what they think of either garment they should know the difference before they do as they are absolutely fundamentally different and give rise to very different issues. BJ btw was just being his pathetic self at the time.

Burqa or niqab- why can’t people get it right?

I know this is an old thread, but I'd still like to answer the OP, giving my own reason:

When it comes to clothing in general, I have little interest.
I glaze over when people start talking about different styles of shoes, skirts, hats, scarves etc.
You might as well be talking a foreign language (though I do speak a couple of those!)
My own clothes shopping is done on a see, like, try-on basis, without any need for 'detailed' vocabulary.

This will probably sound unbelievable to some of you, but like a very large number of people who have never lived in or near towns or cities, I have rarely, if ever, seen anyone wearing any visible form of Muslim clothing within my wider community (not that this occurred to me until now, while writing this post). Only on passers-by when I have cause to visit a town.

If I had lived in a more urban area in recent years, I am guessing that I would have had friends or acquaintances who wore these things, and I would probably have come to know the words in question through everyday conversation.

These things mean that my only 'knowledge' of words like burka (actually, I do know this one as I remember seeing and being shocked by pictures in the papers of women in Afghanistan wearing them, many years ago) , niqab or hijab is what I see or hear via the media, and if they get it wrong, then I and others like me have little hope of getting it right!

Its a form of dress within a patriarchal society. It’s about control. (mostly)

I’ve a few lady friends who are Muslim. Working as hospital doctors. Conversations with them were enlightening.

I agree SueH49 It's also difficult to interact fully with someone whose face is obscured.

Whatever they are called I have no idea how they get the blooming things to stay on!

I don't like the full face coverings as they could easily be a security risk. who knows who is under one of those. Here in Australia there are signs at the entrance to every bank saying motorcycle helmets must be removed due to security concerns but head/ whole face coverings are fine because it would be racist to ask they be removed. I also question the ability of someone driving while wearing these garments to have unimpeded vision.