ANTWERP – Muslim women who work in crèches [NB: day care centers, I think] in Antwerp may no longer wear a headscarf. Starting next week they will be offered an alternative: a bandana. The decision to ban the wearing of headscarves by Antwerp city employees who have contact with the public was introduced at the beginning of this year. The measure has provoked a great deal of criticism but the municipal executive has stood firm.
In the meantime it appears there has been a breakthrough. "We have discussed the situation openly and have reached an agreement," says Veerle Degryse, spokesperson for the Antwerp alderman for social advancement Leen Verbist (SP.A). "Unlike a headscarf a bandana is neutral," says Degryse.
Absolutely wrong. A headscarf, like a bandana, is just a piece of colored cloth. It's what you do with it, and why you do it, that matters.
A woman who wears a headscarf because she believes it an appropriate way to show her reverence to God? Great, more power to her. A woman who wears a headscarf because she believes that if she doesn't, some local hard boys from the 'Committee for the Protection of Virtue' will beat the crap out of her? That there is the problem.
Calling it a bandana doesn't change the underlaying problem: the problem of forcing a woman to be submissive, to conform to the whims of misogynistic men, and to identify those who aren't wearing a headscarf bandana as infidels. |
Until now the alternative has not yet been implemented everywhere. Muslim women in the 22 city crèches will be able to wear a bandana instead of a headscarf starting next week. The alternative may be introduced at city hall and other municipal services in future. |