I have been reading about the bus drivers and the burqa-clad lady's sorry saga and I have to say that mask-o-phobia does not appear in my (Chambers) dictionary.
Perhaps that particular phobia fits into the same category as coulrophobia - a fear of clowns.
I recently had a family of Eastern origin
in my workplace. The children were beautiful, well-mannered and totally Western in their dress.
The wife was wearing a full burqa with only her eyes showing, she was articulate, personable and obviously well educated. She was an absolute equal to her husband and it would have been her own choice to dress that way.
This belies other stories I hear of Muslim women who are made by their husbands to totally cover themselves. I do hope that those who have emigrated here accept our way of life, which includes women being equal to men.
Then again, there is a harsher way of life in Saudi Arabia which includes no religious freedom with the death penalty for a Muslim converting to another religion.
It would not be a fun place to be and I cannot imagine what would happen to anyone who decided to dress as we do on the beach.
Perhaps that is why these people have come here in the first place.
(Abridged)
Robin Bishop, Pyes Pa
