What’s the difference between this and that? What are we told should be our reaction to the image on the right versus the image on the left? Mankind has been struggling with women’s sexuality since the beginning of time and inevitably we end up objectifying women either as objects of pleasure or revulsion, yet legally speaking, in most western democracies women were allowed the freedom to choose what they could wear and we as a society were told to respect that choice or face legal consequences for our indiscretion. You will not find one politician who will claim the woman on the right has an ulterior motive to subvert the American way of life by wearing such an outfit in public, yet women who appear as the image on the left we are told want to impose a way of life on us that is akin to the terrorist attacks of 911 and therefore the weight of the law should be brought to bear against them…..not their detractors. Raising the cry of No Sharia, politicians, pundits and the general public alike have likened such an article of clothing as an act of sedition. In fact, too many societies in the West are even deciding to remove the right of women to choose what they, women, want to wear or what they should do with their bodies or the bodies that grow inside their bodies. Legally, no woman is responsible for the inappropriate behavior of a male towards her if she appeared as the image on the right. Rape, a crime of violence is rarely if ever excused because the attacker gave in to an uncontrollable desire to ravage a woman’s body because she was wearing clothing that excited him. As a society, we’ve come to accept the notion that regardless how a woman may appear, we are not to infringe on her ability to appear that way or punish her with our male notions of how we can behave as a result, yet far too many people feel compelled to punish women who wear niqab, either by restricting their right to wear it or denying them access in society.
Authorities have given in to their uncontrollable desire to assault the body of women who choose to wear the niqaab with the full weight of a government that has ingrained in its law freedom of religious and personal expression by removing the freedom or right to those that offend government. The silence of an American public so beat up with the fear of Muslims and Islam is more than deafening, its complicit. That no one can see the charade of charlatans who invent an object of fear and then say the only way it can be dealt with is to undo the fundamental precepts on which this country were built in order to make people feel comfortable is not only an absurd notion but highly treasonous. After more than a decade of intense fear mongering which has produced not one scintilla of an outcome we were told was inevitable, more straw dogs, like the niqab, have been erected to convince a weary public that more needs to be done to assuage their fear and rid us of a menace. Yet, what we’re being rid of is a woman’s right to choose how she wants to behave in this society. This battle is being fought by Muslim women, pregnant women, teenaged women, of all races and ethnic backgrounds. They should join one another in standing against a trend that can only lead to them losing control of how they define themselves. Ours should not be a society that fears or objectifies women.
Miscellany101's Weblog 
Very well said! Whereas I am not a niqabi (I am a hijabi), I still feel the pressure to “conform” (whatever that may mean), and be “American” (again, not quite sure what that means!).
I am an American Muslim, having a family legacy IN America that goes back to BEFORE the Revolutionary War (I have direct ancestors that fought the British). Every battle that has been fought on foreign and domestic lands by the American military, I have had ancestors and relatives involved (on the American side!). Yet, due to the fact that I am a Muslim who happens to wear a scarf on my head, I am viewed as somehow being “anti-American.”
Muslim women are told that in America they can “wear whatever they want,” or that they “do not have to dress like that (indicating the scarf, niqab, and abaya if one is so dressed at the time).” No one seems to think for a minute that perhaps we ARE dressed the way we want to be dressed! They (ignorantly) assume that we are being FORCED to wear it.
I dress the way I dress because I choose to. Yes, my religion says that I must, but you know what? I choose to follow my religion, which makes my wearing hijab a CHOICE. No man or woman has the right to tell me that I cannot, or should not.
I love the secular spirit in which the Founding Fathers sought to create the United States of America. That spirit guarantees me the right to freely practice my religion, “funny clothes” and all.
It’s amazing that a Muslim, is saying they are satisfied with the secular nature of America because it allows you freedom of expression, yet people who want to split America and Americans tell us that Muslims want to change the landscape of America. You seemed to have realized something many people Muslim or non-Muslim have not quite grasped and that is if America lived up to the potential of its laws it would truly be an exceptional Republic; what is dragging us down is the inability of some folks to accept the multi-ethnic nature of our country and try to make it into their own specific image. As for your ancestral service to our country I thank you.