Jacob Rees-Mogg put the matter in a balanced – if somewhat orotund – way: he did not consider that a burka added to any woman’s “pulchritude”. Yet it was not the state’s job to ordain what people could wear. Quite so: a garment may indeed be called unattractive without its being against the law.
The all-covering Islamic garment is not popular with the general public in this country and is not considered “pulchritudinous”. Boris Johnson has got into much trouble in making that point, with characteristic hyperbole.
Both women and men often describe the burka as oppressive to women and a symbol of a backward patriarchy. Yet some Islamic women freely choose to wear it, for a number of reasons: faith, family tradition or even perhaps an element of comfort. I can appreciate the convenience in being able to see without being seen.
But perhaps the vogue for the burka and the niqab (a face veil that leaves the eyes visible) might also be linked to a reaction against certain Western styles of dress, or rather undress. Perhaps some in the Islamic tradition – both women and men – find the immodesty of many Western fashions unbecoming. Perhaps they think it is unattractive to see a woman (and, in summer, some men) stripped down to the bare essentials.
That famous photograph, taken a couple of years ago on the Cote d’Azur, prompts such a question: Islamic women who had chosen to wear a “burkini” (a modestly designed swimming costume) were being arraigned by two French policemen for displeasing the law, while other swimmers and beach loungers went bare-breasted. If Islamic women prefer to be modestly attired when swimming, why shouldn’t they do so?
Those of us who have less than “beach ready” figures might well embrace a more enveloping form of swimwear, were it to be available.
Nuns once had recourse to swimwear which wasn’t unlike the burkini. They too felt their modesty protected by such a garment.
I frequently drive through Stamford Hill in north London, where many ultra-Orthodox Jews live, the men wearing a 17th-century dark costume, the women dressed with notable reserve. They won’t win any fashion awards, but they, too, should be free to make a statement proclaiming their core values.
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Young people in their 20s are reportedly less close to their families than previous generations, according to the Intergenerational Foundation. They are less likely to include family members among their “friends”. This, claims the charity, is because “friends” are now found through on-screen networks, rather than through kinship links.
I’m quite surprised at this research. Anecdotally, young people seem to me to be close to their families these days. I have seen nothing like the abrasive “Don’t trust anyone over 30” movement which characterised the Bob Dylan generation of the 1960s. (The Nobel-garlanded troubadour warned parents to get out of the way if they couldn’t adjust to changing times.)
Perhaps “family” and “friends” simply fall into different categories for the millennial generation. And maybe they are different. As the ever-wise GK Chesterton observed, friends are chums you choose, whereas family are people you accept. And it’s precisely because you may have little in common with blood relations that family life can make you more broad-minded. Still, the Intergenerational Foundation underlines an important point: too much dependence on social networks for “friendship” can lead to loneliness and isolation.
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A lot of places these days are complaining about too much tourism. From Barcelona to Cornwall, locals grumble that a surfeit of visitors renders life stressful, overcrowded and expensive for residents.
In Ireland, I encountered more of a sense of gratitude about the tourism boom, especially the success of the “Wild Atlantic Way” trail – that’s the entire western coast, which has been brilliantly marketed as such.
Numerous Irish householders I met earlier this month are benefiting from Airbnb for the summer season. I was told that “the whole of Dingle” are living in their garages so as to rent out their homes (some for €1,000 a week).
And I heard it reported that most visitors who use Airbnb treat their hosts’ homes with courtesy and respect. Is that because most people are honest and decent – or because the Airbnb system monitors behaviour?
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