'Plucky little Belgium' is on the verge of banning the burka, the first European country to do so. It provokes me to try and think the problem through. It is only proper that I should confess immediately that I approach this controversy from a position of extreme prejudice. Yes, I admit it, I am prejudiced. You see, whenever any government starts laying down laws I instantly suspect the worst and look for the downside. The idea that a government should slip the thin end of a large wedge into our daily lives by laying down a dress code fills me with fear and loathing. It is true that I find the sight of women dressed head to toe in black both ugly and, in this day and age, sinister but I am of an age where I can recall regularly seeing nuns similarly dressed and I never experienced the revulsion I feel when I see a Muslim woman in a burka. It is, of course, the 'foreigness' of it that offends and, in this age of suicide bombers, the implied threat.
Regular readers will know that I have from time to time inveighed against the (un)dress standards of our very own 'youfs' and 'youfettes' and were a government to ban fat cows from exposing their tattooed bellies and the crack in their bottoms I would have real difficulty in opposing it. But where will it end? Once you give these Jacks-in-office a little bit of power to decide what should and should not be worn you just know that they will seize more and more and then dictate dress codes to everyone and we shall all end up dressed in Mao suits. I should add that this bossiness towards the way people dress is spreading into society at large. I remember the days in which certain restaurants would refuse entry to anyone not wearing a tie and where the maitre d' would always have a set available to lend to customers who arrived tieless. (Michael Winner was constantly caught out, so not all bad then!) Now, like so many other things, the mores have reversed but the bossiness remains. I have just been invited to a social event in which the dress code has been stipulated as 'smart/casual' (why not just 'smart'?) and a particular injunction has been issued against ties! Why? I like ties. I actually spend time choosing exactly the right tie to wear with my shirt and jacket. When I have chosen and adorned myself I feel right. A tie is, after all, a man's only chance to emulate the peacock. Perhaps I should make clear that my efforts to emulate the peacock are exceedingly rare. My usual dress code which governs 98% of my life could be described as dismal, tawdry and even 'not fit for purpose'!
Returning to the burka, I am virulently opposed to governments telling people how to dress beyond the accepted laws of decency. However, that should not preclude the right of individuals to set down rules governing dress codes on their own property. I would even support a government that laid down dress codes in government offices. Beyond that, however, let people dress how they like, apart from anything else there is nothing quite like the vicarious pleasure of sniggering at someone else's appalling taste! My dear, did you see his tie . . . !
"Returning to the burka, I am virulently opposed to governments telling people how to dress beyond the accepted laws of decency. However, that should not preclude the right of individuals to set down rules govening dress codes on their own property."
Fully agree. Remove all the 'diversity' laws guarenteeing that any shopkeeper who sought to ban them would be hounded by all the quangos and racehustlers, and the problem would soon disappear.
Posted by: JuliaM | Thursday, 01 April 2010 at 15:04
Quangos and racehustlers put out of business. Hmmn, so the Law of Unintended Consequences isn't all bad then!
Posted by: David Duff | Thursday, 01 April 2010 at 16:04
My usual dress style is ragamuffin. I do like, though, wearing topper and tails for a wedding. Anything in between just irks me.
Posted by: dearieme | Thursday, 01 April 2010 at 22:23
"It is, of course, the 'foreigness' of it that offends ..."
Not really. Nuns join an order voluntarily. When they quit, they go back to wearing civies. What offends about the burqa is that women are forced to wear it.
What strikes me about the Belgium law is that it gives Moslem girls a good excuse to not wear a burqa.
Posted by: Dom | Friday, 02 April 2010 at 00:05
I agree with the sentiment, 'DM', but not being 'to the manner born' top hat and tails makes me feel (even more) fraudulent.
Two good points, Dom, but I still feel the government should just butt out.
Posted by: David Duff | Friday, 02 April 2010 at 11:33