Science fiction story by Delilah

In the year 2035, medical experiments on monkeys serve a sinister purpose, and the monkeys struggle on in oblivion. All except one...

Here's Monkey Retreat, published in Litro magazine.

The burqa isn’t right but it shouldn’t be banned

The stories of women in France already being arrested and held by the police horrify me.

How can a law that claims to protect against the oppression of women treat women with such contempt?

And this is why the law is wrong. Not so much that it is racist (because it is, as well). But because it is not women who should be judged and punished for being the visual symbol of a patriarchal culture.

Will banning the burqa change this culture? Of course not. It might even make it worse. Imagine a husband who keeps his wife indoors, allowing her out only with his permission, and only then in her ‘protective’ covering (because he claims that other men will desire her if she is uncovered). If she goes out without the burqa – law or not – he may beat her.

This is the culture that that needs to change. The culture that conditions men and women to believe that women are objects for the home, to have children and not a career, and to be objects of desire and display, and therefore covered up and restricted.

The law only reinforces this, condemning women further on how they look and what they dress in. Feminism is not about telling women what they should and should not wear.

It’s reminiscent of any law that victimises women who work as prostitutes. A woman who has been trafficked or coerced is not at fault. A woman who has not been coerced and may claim to have chosen this work is nonetheless a consequence of a society that views women as sexual objects to be used by men much more than the other way round.

The burqa ban is another example of women being blamed for an inequality between the sexes – and another example of society blaming the victims and not the cause.

This rap song is progressive

the fascists are some heavy dudes
they don't really give a damn about life
they just don't want a woman to
control her body or have the right to choose
but baby that ain't nothin
they just want a male finger on the button
because if you say war they will send them to die by the score

Read the lyrics here. Thanks to Athos for bringing my attention to this (and reciting it).