this post was submitted on 07 Aug 2026
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United States | News & Politics
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You also don't know why these women are wearing it. You don't know that their family is forcing them to wear it.
Assuming you know better is the problem here.
I am with Grimy on this one; I feel the same level of creeped out when I see Pentecostal women in skirts as I do when I see women in burkas. There’s nothing inherently oppressive about skirts but when you see a group of people who are clearly part of a culture that uses them for oppression, whether that individuals oppressed or not, it’s impossible for me to not see it in a different context and be reminded of all the bullshit in the world.
There are 2 women in this picture.
What does that have to do with what I said?
You’re judging 2 women who went to vote. Like you know everything about them and why they wear this.
I’m not judging anybody, did you even read what I said?
The line about seeing groups of people that are part of the same culture of oppression makes you uncomfortable.
At least in this picture, these women are exercising their right to vote and their right to wear what they want. That's all we know about them.
And that isn't an assumption? The hypocrisy is massive.
Not any more assumptive than anyone asserting these women MUST be oppressed.
Considering they're at the voting booths exercising their right to vote, I think none of us can judge what these women are doing. They should be free to do as they want.
Stop putting words in my mouth and implying I'm an extremist. Personal freedom above all else, I am not saying they should be forced to show their face.
We are both assuming I suppose. What makes you a hypocrite is going "you are assuming wrong because my assumption is clearly right".
What isn't an assumption is that the dress is a symbol of oppression stemming from a culture of oppression. Are you going to ignore this point again?
Sure they might wear it because they are used to it and might even feel unsafe not wearing it, but all those habits were still forced into them by an oppressive system.
In the end it's still a patriarchal system built to oppress women, the dress is a tool for oppression even if some wear it freely.
That's the key point, I'll put in italics so you stop reading over it: oppressive system, oppressive system, oppressive system, oppressive system, oppressive system.
Jfc
Judging individual women on the basis of an entire oppressive culture is where I have a problem.
I'm judging the symbol of that oppressive culture, not the individual women. Get off your high horse.
Get off yours.
If oppression doesn’t make you uncomfortable then you’re on the wrong side of history.
I'm going to quote someone else in this very conversation:
You have the right to not like it. But you don’t have the right to force everyone else to change to accommodate what you don’t like.
I never claimed that right. You’re really reaching for an argument in this conversation.
It's not a reach to say women as individuals have every right to wear what they want. And to judge these two women as being oppressed simply because of their clothing is presumptuous.
You have the right to not like what they're wearing. They don't have to change to accommodate you.
Let me bottom line this for you; my freedom of expression to flip you the bird doesn’t inherently make me flipping you off not offensive. Just like these women exercising their freedoms doesn’t necessarily make the Burka not oppressive. Those who were upset seeing me flipping you off almost certainly wouldn’t be having a problem specifically with me exercising my freedom of expression just like here these women exercising their freedom isn’t what people have a problem with. It would obviously be the symbol and what it represents and what the action of me flipping you off represents as a whole. Any insinuation to the contrary is just reaching for an argument and ignoring what has been said.
I think his point was even if they themselves converted to Islam and choose to wear the burqua completely on their own accord, it doesn't stop it from being a symbol of oppression. IIRC there is nothing in the Quaran about being covered in this way, it's purely about fascistic control from religious dictators and can't be divorced from that fact.
Full disclosure, I am not a religious scholar and disdain all religions pretty equally (fuck Mormons in particular though)
Women are allowed to be religious if they want.
One could argue that the blue-haired liberal feminists are also a product of their culture.
Just to be clear, I'm not disagreeing that Islam has some problematic views the same as any religion. But we shouldn't strive to control women in order to free them from control.
And your assuming there's absolutely no cultural or family pressure. What I'm assuming is much more likely, so stop assuming this person is some freedom loving feminist that wears the burka because she wants to.
I know we all look like women hating bigots from your high horse but you might actually be the one wrong her. In any case, it's still a symbol of oppression that stems from a patriarchal system of oppression.
It's like seeing someone wearing an Amazon T-shirt and assuming he's an anarchist. Sure, everything is possible but it isn't the likeliest assumption.
I'm not going to get into a debate about choice feminism with you on this topic.
These two women don't owe you any explanation for why they dress this way.
Well then…shut up
You first.