Should the Burqa be banned in Australia

[nero_bolt]

Should the Burqa and Niqab be banned in Australia?

[bushies.girl]

Not a prob re ice cream would only buy Aussie made myself

[cherry*135]

How many posters have seen a woman dressed in a burqa on the beach in Australia? I haven't. I have seen them in a blue garment (face not covered) in the water. 

Icy wrote: "Mr Abbott wears speedos on the beach. Not at work, not on the street, not during his interviews"

Mr Abbott on a street

Mr Abbott, wearing speedos) being interviewed by a TV station. These confronting images beamed into our lounges via the TV.

[cherry*135]

"young guys do wear speedos for casual swimwear."

Not around where I live they don't (coastal NSW). They wouldn't be seen dead in them, all wear board shorts (long). I would take some photos, but would probably get arrested!

There was discussion earlier in this thread about halal labelling. 

If person A can say they find a person wearing a burqa is confronting to them, then person B 's opinion is they find middle aged men wearing speedos confronting. Person B view must be valid.

[muppet_detector]

You're confronted by a balding man with a hairy chest?

You are so fortunate that your TV screen was there to protect you!

[cherry*135]

It was too late...what has been seen can't be unseen...it was whole body on the TV!

Anyway I only posted those photos to bust the myth TA is only seen at the beach wearing speedos..plenty of photos online say otherwise.

[muppet_detector]

Looking at those picture, if you photoshopped the head of a very fit 20 year old onto that body, no one would be any the wiser. That appears to be an excellent physique for any male, especially one of that age. It is only the face which gives any indication to that person's age.

Besides, I think he is over 50. He is hardly middleaged. i think that ship has long sailed.

People wear boardshorts here too. Nor are they exclusive. A speedo wearer may alternate with boardshorts or even wear their speedos UNDER their boardies. (Whatever will the neighbours think about that?)

Just as some females wear bikinis whilst others choose to wear one piece swimwear or some people don rash vests or wet suits. Just because people near you don't wear them, doesn't mean that they don't in other locations.

I am not disputing a person's right to state they find someone wearing a speedo confronting, as I said, I just don't understand why, and nobody has been able to elaborate.

I can however understand why some may find a burqa confronting. It is human nature to be suspicious of that which we cannot see. Full transperancy in a person wearing a pair of speedos though, never even seen a pair with a pocket, so i doubt that bump is a gun.

So what is the difference between the bump in clothing created by a flacid **bleep** and the bumps caused by breasts? Unless the man has an erection, generally speaking, most adult breasts create a bigger bump in swimwear than that revealed by a pair of speedos.

[cherry*135]

I am not disputing a person's right to state they find someone wearing a speedo confronting, as I said, I just don't understand why, and nobody has been able to elaborate.

If you have read this whole thread, you would have noted I haveasked the same question about what people find 'confronting' about a person they may pass in the street or somewhere else in public wearing a burqa.  ( A question to those who said they think the burqa should be banned and they find it 'confronting') Didn't get any elaborations to that question.

TA is 56 yo, that is middle aged. 

He is a Prime Minster, don't want to see our PM in the news in his speedo's. Any other male his age wearing them doesn't end up on the news or have their photos splashed all over the news/internet.

Young males here don't own speedo's, why would they when they prefer to wear board shorts? (unless they do competitive swimming).

There are many crowded beaches between where I live and Sydney.. that is a pretty good representation of what people wear swimming/sunbathing.

[muppet_detector]

No, I haven't nor do I intend to read the whole thread.

This is not my personal view, but I believe that some find the burqa confronting as the face in not highly visible and in some cases obscured. It is the uncertainty of exactly who may be beneath the material. I'm not saying that those feelings are rational or accurate, but there you go, I have provided a few reasons why people may find the burqa confronting. Undoubtedly, there are many more.

Yes, I believe that the burqa should be prohibited in all situations where safety of others is a concern and also in situations where identification of a person is required.

I would even go as far as to have it banned if collecting children from school, or where the person enrobed in such attire has contact with the children of others. We live in a scary world where people do many sick and twisted things and devise ways to access children. Without being able to identify a person underneath any covering, how can we be certain that it is not a stranger posing as the mother of an unsuspecting child? Imagine little Jonny merrily skipping up to meet the person he presumes to be his mother collecting him from school, only to discover that it is a complete stranger, and possible predator posing as his parent, It is possible that any of the other parents, onlookers or teachers would not realise that it was a stranger and take no action to intervene.

Customs, airport security, drivers' licence, identification for the purposes of purchasing cigarettes/alcohol, accessing age restricted areas, and any other places where concealment of the face is not allowed for the purposes of security such as banks, petrol stations etc.

If a person wearing clothing that completely masked their identity, robbed you, stole a child or committed some other crime against you or society, how would you identify them for the authorities? How would a witness be able to differentiate between an innocent person walking down the street wearing a burqa and a felon who is wearing the clothing with intent to be unidentifiable?

We now live in an age and culture where the ability to identify those around us is essential.

Prid Quo Pro......

Is it confronting to see all men in speedos, regardless of their physique, or is it just the middleaged ones or is it just the Prime Minister?

[muppet_detector]

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@am*3 wrote:

 Any other male his age wearing them doesn't end up on the news or have their photos splashed all over the news/internet.

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I just did a search on google, google image and even You Tube of "Middle aged man wearing speedos". It seems that the above is not accurate.

[icyfroth]

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@am*3 wrote:

How many posters have seen a woman dressed in a burqa on the beach in Australia? I haven't. I have seen them in a blue garment (face not covered) in the water. 

Icy wrote: "Mr Abbott wears speedos on the beach. Not at work, not on the street, not during his interviews"

Mr Abbott on a street

God you're cute, Am. That's not  a street. It's  a service road to a beach...Mr Abbott had competed in the Palm Beach to Whale Beach Big Swim, and was walking back to the start...

...and this is at Queenscliff Beach Manly during the election. Where a TV show surprised him after a morning surf at Queencliff beach. The interviewer didn't seem overly "confronted". 

Nice try there, Am, but looking increasingly desperate.