I AM writing in regards to the stupefying popularity (25,921 likes) of the Facebook page "Ban the Burqa" and, on that note, all race-related pages, which for some reason or other seem to all target the Muslim community alone.
I would like to point out that, as a 20-year-old feminist female, I am not a big fan of the burqa in general.
However, I would never, ever ask to ban it.
The reason? Well, for one, I live in a Western society - I cannot preach against one sort of sexism when the majority of us Western women value ourselves by looks.
The second reason I find this page appalling is because, in Australia, we tend to emphasise the need for freedom of speech (with pages like these, for example), but also freedom of image.
Why do our Western women get to wear whatever the hell they want (and believe me, some of the nightclub attire I see on women offends and scares me a whole lot more than the burqa), and Muslim women can't wear the one item of clothing that they hold more sacred and essential than any of us consider any of our clothing?
Some people claim they hate the burqa for the sexist aspect. Some people claim they hate the burqa for security reasons - after all, any Muslim woman could be holding a belt full of explosives under that cloth, couldn't she?
I can understand that in cases with a need for identity, or for sheer safety concerns, such as driving, that there is an issue with the face-covering aspect of the burqa.
However, pages such as these (no matter what their welcome page says) want to ban the burqa in public as a whole.
I have never seen a Facebook page saying "Ban the Trenchcoat".
No, it is so presumptuous of us to assume such savage things of people because of their race, that I honestly am embarrassed to call myself Australian at the present time.
Do not think that you are trying to maintain Australian ideals by supporting such things as "Ban the Burqa", because if you really want to start banning such huge cultural icons, you cannot pick and choose.
You can say goodbye to your consumption of pizza, fried rice, your purchasing of incense and Buddha statues and your celebrations at Christmas, if this is the case, because these things did not originate from here.
It's time to start being realistic here. If you support morals such as these, know that you are ultimately not supporting feminism or the want of comfort for all, you are flat-out supporting racism.
AMELIA SIEBRING
Buninyong