Burkas Are Freedom

It is an apt day to talk about freedom. Yet freedom can come in strange forms. In fact, freedom can even be found where others see only oppression. What better symbol of female oppression than the burka. A form-hiding outfit that covers just about everything (even the eyes), the burka seems to be about as oppressive as they come.

Yet the burka itself represents only an overt form of oppression. It is far easier to see the overt than the subtle. Take for example the oppression of capitalism. The standards of beauty. The burka, ironically, can represent a sort of emancipation from these. The burka is anonymous. Nobody really cares (or can actually tell) if you're wearing nothing inside. Now that's freedom from fashion, from people judging just how skimpy (or prudish) your outfit happens to be. It's freedom from the chains of capitalism that urge people to buy more outfits they don't really need. It's freedom from the judgment of the form one has that never ever seems to match the unrealistic standards set by the fashion world. It frees one from the oppressive need to pick, match and coordinate outfits from a wardrobe full of clothes that one might never wear. (I'm sure we all know this one =p) The irony of choice is that sometimes it means we're denied the choice not to make a choice. Surely nobody would wish to see me decked out in some truly awful colors on poorly fitted outfits. Yet if I genuinely wanted to do that, I find the choice is less than desirable, considering that I don't like to be ridiculed overly much...

It is even the freedom from the prying eyes of men who would gladly oogle women who may be less than happy about being oogled. Imagine the time and brain power savings for men, when they spend less time thinking about sex and more towards productive thoughts or even other non-sexual forms of entertainment. Certainly, no bicycles will crash when a burka-wearing geisha looks at a man. Hell, it even serves as an umbrella, in keeping one exotically pale skinned under the harsh light of day. Brollies are just so victorian.

Then comes the harmony. No, not the enforced harmony of highly regulated societies, but the peace of anonymity. Yup, even men would benefit from wearing burkas. Not only is gender masked by these fine outfits, one's unique appearance is masked as well. That means poor sods getting trounced by street toughs by mistake will no longer face those problems: The toughs would have a hard time spotting the fella from a distance. Besides, men can finally be excused for being utterly unfashionable.

With all these benefits, the burka seems like the perfect universal outfit for everyone. Making women wear these might be oppressive, but everyone wearing it would be...consensus. Yes, freedom can come in strange forms. Oh, and happy Independence Day, one and all =p