Oct 24, 2006
Yesterday, I was in Woolworth’s with my son. All of the Halloween costumes were out. I was thinking about this whole ‘should Muslim women cover their faces in the UK’ conversation and wondered what people would say if I went around dressed as a ghost or in the Scream mask all the time…?
Gia Milinovich is an American ex-pat, a science groupie and professional dork.
Gia's a TV presenter, enjoys taking photos, is married to physicist Professor Brian Cox and thinks writing about herself in the third person is "cool".
production blog, was involved in the Indy4/Seesmic online junket and originated the 28 Weeks Later
QR Code DVD release. 
I dare you to dress as a ghost all the time.
No, wait … I double dare you.
Damn! I can’t resist a dare…. but only if you dress like this all the time…
Wear my Sunday best all the time!? Well, okay then.
“Zed, the Gimp’s asleep.”
I see them all the time on Gresham Rd in Brixton, I see a woman alot who wear the full tent with black Nike trainers.
I almost hit one the other day coming down Coldharbour Lane on my Ducati, she was crossing against the light, I hate people who don’t obey the lights!
Some days it’s like try not hit a muslim on Gresham Rd especially this month of Ramadam
dare you to wear the ghost with the pointed head one…
I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks about these things.
Lately, I have been thinking about head coverings, and the relationship between cultures.
For instance, the women of the middle east wear head scarves, and so do the nuns of the Catholic church. It all goes back to the same root.
Italian women wear head scarves, and Menonite women wear little caps, as do Jewish men.
In biblical days, the men of the Middle East wore cloth over their heads, and now, most wear turbans.
I know the head coverings have religious significance, but I imagine it began as a matter of practicality.
Those sand storms in the desert can be a b*tch, you know.
Having been to Burning Man, I have to agree.
damnit, that ate my image.
Kelley, I agree. When you go to the Middle East you really *do* need a head covering – mainly to protect you from the Sun, but also, in certain places, to keep sand from choking you. I understand. I completely understand.
When I went to Jerusalem I was struck by just how odd the Hasidic Jews looked in that setting. Their outfits are 18th century Eastern European. They wear several layers of clothing including a heavy black overcoat. it’s bloody *hot* in Jerusalem. Their attire really doesn’t work. They look like outsiders. The Arab Jews wore clothing which looked, well, Arab… and consequently, for me, they looked like they belonged there.
I’m sure that this man wouldn’t mind at all if you did. After all, who wants to see “uncovered meat” walking around the streets?
I’m told that views such as these are shared by only a tiny minority of his fellow adherents, which is a relief as I’d rather my child not be educated by someone dressed like a medieval executioner. But then I’m just an old reactionary…
So… according to certain Muslims, women are supposed to cover themselves up because men are incapable of controlling their sexual urges and that women who don’t cover themselves up are responsible for being sexually assaulted. Okaaaaaay… So, it should follow that women who cover themselves up should NOT be victims of sexual assault. Right?
The fact is that Middle Eastern Muslim women are still being raped… and apparently it’s still their fault…
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
And here’s a picture of one such woman about to receive her due punishment for her transgressions. Sadly, covering up didn’t help this poor soul.
I was in two minds about posting this. It’s pretty shocking and upsetting, and it’s stored on a loathesome site whose motivations and journalistic credentials are at best, highly suspect. However, censorship by the media has allowed us Brits to be shielded from events such as this, events that are for many women in the Middle-East and elsewhere a regular occurrence. It’s also a sobering reminder that political choices *do* matter!
Thank you for that link, Roger. It *is* shocking, but I agree that it’s definitely worth reminding people about the reality of what’s going on in the world… It’s also important to remember that it’s only in the past few hundred years that Christians haven’t been killing women in equally shocking ways, before then if you were female and had any knowledge whatsoever of the medicinal uses of herbs, you were likely to be burned at the stake as a witch…
Step one: legislate against the teaching of religion or religious-based theories in any lesson other than RE or philosophy classes.
Step two: stop state funding of all religious schools.
Step three: make attendance in a secular school a legal requirement for all children under the age of 16.
Step four: make 16 the minimum age requirement for belonging to *any* faith-based institution. You aren’t able to have sex in the UK before the age of 16. The age of consent is there to try and protect children from being exploited by adults… Surely, you shouldn’t be able to be taken by an adult and indoctrinated into a potentially destructive way of thinking unless you are able to give your consent… Surely…
Halloween… oh, I remember my hero Bob Carlos Clarke. He died near me by hit by a train at 55 years, I think it was a suicide.
“the Dark Summer” was in inspiration …Gia is in my new Inspired 1.01: by the work of Bob Carlos Clarke,
http://flickr.com/photos/93279914@N00/280163886/in/photostream/
She is not a Goth but still put her in there since Bob would have liked her. It’s Halloween.