What’s the difference between forcing women to wear a veil and forbidding them to wear one?
A lot of Western people have criticized Muslim societies for forcing women to cover themselves. Many of those same people have then banned (or tried to ban) veils in schools, work places and other public places. My question is, aren’t they doing the exact same thing they criticize others for? They too are trying to control women and tell them what to wear and what not to wear. Why are not individual women given choices and let decide for themselves whether or not to cover themselves? Why do societies always try to control everyone according to their own ideas?
Not being allowed to wear a veil if you want one is in my opinion just as bad as being forced to wear one when you don’t want to. Both are limits to individual freedom.
What do you think? Do you see any difference between those two?
I know that covering one's face can be a security issue. I don't think there is anything wrong with asking people to not cover their face in public buildings for example, for security reasons. It's the issue about the veil over the hair that I have problems understanding. I can't see how that poses any sort of danger or anything else that justifies banning it.