BAN THE BURQA!

MASKED RIGHT-WING PROTESTORS DESCEND ON PORTSMOUTH!

Has anyone stopped to think through the sheer idiocy and nastiness of this situation.  The very group shouting that the burqa should not be allowed are wearing masks themselves to try and intimidate boat people, rescue services, and have provoked a very scary situation for Portsmouth citizens.  Who is allowed to be masked?

There seems to have been very little police intervention.  Yet the quiet protest of elderly people, without masks, holding up posters supporting Palestine, resulted in mass arrests, handcuffs and prosecutions.  Face covering or no face covering has led me into a wider consideration of ‘Cover-up’.  

When do we have to cover-up, when do we choose to cover-up, and when is exposure a punishable offence?

It would seem that the genital area for men and women is expected to be covered apart from small children.  Whether it is the minimal penis sheath worn by some highland tribes in Papua New Guinea, or the ‘4 pairs of knickers, joked about by Jilly Cooper, ‘down below’ is kept covered.  I remember one class teacher at a boys school would gather all the pupils together who were transferring to secondary school.  His closing remarks to them were: ’These are your private parts, and private they are to remain.’

From down below to up above.  There are several religious and cultural traditions concerning the covering of the head, and this may vary depending on the space.  I remember being a little startled when a woman removed her wig in a drama workshop - she then explained that she had to keep her head covered in public and chose a wig rather than a scarf or hat.  There are striking similarities between the head coverings of traditional nurses, nuns and Muslim women which all seem to limit the peripheral vision of the wearer.  If that is the reason we must include the poked bonnets worn by middle and upper class women during the Bronte times and reproduced in the several television dramatic productions.  Large brimmed hats actually prevent kissing without there needing to be a rule!

And from the top of the head to the bottom of our feet.  Very strict rules regarding wearing footwear inside the home.  One can always have indoor shoes and outdoor shoes.  A white doctor was incensed when asked by an Asian patient to remove his shoes.  His response was ’I might have a hole in my sock’!  We could go on with so many examples of covering and uncovering.  Currently the most negative one seems to be regarding the burqa - why does it cause such negativity, especially in right wing groups?  Has there ever been that level of protest regarding nuns?

The only safe space in this debate is wearing masks in our drama classes and in the theatre - in the world of make believe and let's pretend.  When it spills in to everyday life then fantasies abound regarding ‘others’, people not like us, especially those trying to grab our jobs and houses.  The journey through masks, whether in a workshop or in the theatre, is a joy as we discover something new, and unleash our creativity.

How sad that it has become weaponised to denounce people who are just wanting family life and their children to live without fear.