I will attempt to argue the validity of my own personal opinion concerning the full version of the veil or �hijab�, which incorporates the facial veil, and that the wearing of said garment in Western countries hinders basic expectations of Western etiquette required for effective face-to-face communication in everyday life. While Fauzia Ali may argue that women wearing the veil are still able to communicate, even if the hijab does not result in muffling, which I find hard to believe, eye contact and the information conveyed by facial expressions and gestures are key to being able to properly interpret an individual�s communicative input.

...Although the broadness of [Jack] Straw�s comment that the veil is a �visible statement of separation and difference� was naturally perceived to be ethnically discriminative, I think it more or less sums up the social setbacks that the veil imposes on a community. Society�s value of the face is evident in the rules of its institutions, such as schools, that commonly ban the wearing of hats and hoodies on its property in order to promote the easy identification of and interaction between its participants.

However, this all boils down to the question, what is multiculturalism and when can a society intervene with the policies of a foreign culture? I realize that I may sound as if I�m attempting to homogenize or westernize a minority for my own personal comfort, but any society, to an extent, depends on a level of conformity to ensure the collective comfort of its citizens.

© Copyright Spencer de C, 2007
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