This discussion's obviously gone a bit silly,
but I do like that 'No Burka' vid.
You rock, Cornflower!

And now for a little light relief:

The Fifth Annual Fall Fundamentalist Fashion Show -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIpdC0o3mdM

The curious thing about burqa is that it was uncommon outside Saudi Arabia 20 years ago. Look at footage of street scenes in Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon, even Afghanistan form the 80s and you'll see few head coverings, let alone burqas. It seems odd to me that coverings of various types, from hijab through to mobile marquee tents, are becoming more common, the more Muslims end up in the West as immigrants. Is this because of a "revival of tradional values", or a means to separate Muslims from the sea of kaffirs? Or maybe just to annoy us, to feed permanent Muslim "victimhood"?

I personally think burqas should be banned. They are not an Islamic dress requirement (dress is merely meant to be "modest", not all-encompassing), and it most certainly should be banned whilst driving (for obvious safety reasons) and where security is an issue. Men who force their women to wear burqas should be fined, not the wearers.

Should women be free to wear the burqa? Yes, in the Islamic state of their choice.

JanF - All that I said is true. The fact is, that a Muslim woman stated recently, that it's the daughters of Muslim women who are now choosing to wear the burqa in Australia - their mothers didn't. The view was, that these younger women are wearing this garment as a protest at the racial hatred that's been in this country since 9/11. If that's the reason, I say why not? I find it incredible that some people think that if our society/law prohibits this garment, women's human rights will be restored. What rubbish. There's a long way to go in this country before women are treated as equals, and it has nothing to do with whether our faces are covered or uncovered.
A woman is murdered every 10 days in this country by a partner/husband, and one in 3 women are subjected to some form of abuse in their lifetime. We have more important areas of discrimination and abuse to clear up before we get het up over a piece of cloth that covers a woman's face - it's more important to prevent the bruises some women have to put up with on a daily basis.
It is shameful, that those who get het up over this, choose to turn their faces away on more important issues that cause real harm to women! There is an ingrained culture of violence towards women in Australia. I question the motives of people, particularly men, who get in a sweat over this issue. And what about those who rip the hijab from women's heads - how about that form of abuse?
What about the 'dresses' priests and bishops wear? They could hide anything under them, but nobody complains about them being a security hazard do they?

Regardless of whether Pip's backing the right horse, this is the most unconvincing and shallow argument I've read on OLO pages for a while. She rarely goes beyond name calling, demonising, and putting words in her opponents' mouths.

I assume she wasn't the principle speaker, and hope no vote was carried on the basis of this speach alone. 

For my part, we already have all sorts of laws enforcing all sorts of dress codes and dress standards for varieties of reasons, some silly, some not so. Why are we so sensitive about enforcing this standard, one which is pretty sensible and understandable.

I recently heard of a man refused custom in a convenience store because he wasn't wearing shoes. 

In September this year, I was refused entry to the MCC to watch a football match (half naked men chasing a pig skin in the mud) because I had dressed to protect myself against the rain. I was wearing leather shoes, jeans, a ski jumper, and rain coat, but unfortunately no shirt bearing a collar.    

The burqa is one of the most instantly recognised symbols of oppression in the world today.

It is a mistake to believe that fundamentalism is restricted to men.