There is no bigotry or hate or judgement or political point meant by this question FYI.
I live in the Caribbean and I see a small minority of women(presumably) that wear full body burqas even more extreme than the usual version. Basically all skin is covered, including gloves and the face even it is covered with a eye “screen” to see through. This looks to me to be horribly hot and uncomfortable in this climate. Probably not many here have experience but how hot is this exactly?
I’m thinking is an case of you get used to it!
Women wear this attire in some if the hottest climates on earth. Seemingly with ease.
I’m pretty sure south sea islanders initially looked at westerner’s attire and wondered how anyone could bear to wear a tie around their neck or a boob confining bra!
Different strokes for different folks and fashion trumps comfort all too often. Young people wear shorts in the winter and Uggs with their shorts in summer.
Many years ago (probably back in the 90’s) I remember hearing someone ask why people in the desert wear long (often times dark) robes. With how hot it was, you’d think they’d want to be a bit less bundled up.
Whoever answered the questions said that wearing clothes like that created some convection under the robe. It would get warm and air would be drawn in from the bottom and expelled at the top which meant sweat evaporated and kept them cool. Also, the movement from the breeze keeps the cooler then restrictive clothing would. I supposed it also keeps the sun off of them as well.
I would assume the same applies to burqas. Besides, assuming they’re made from good material, fitted well and sewed properly (no seems rubbing etc), I can’t imagine they’re all that physically uncomfortable.
No, they’re just fucking hot and fairly miserable. Even those who defend their use admit they’re hot. They increase vitamin D deficiency and rickets, and contribute to obesity. They are not in any way healthy, and one “gets used to it” only in that one loses the frame of reference of normal.
There is no “opening at the top” of a burqa for heat to expel from. Robes are totally different. If burqa served as effective cooling devices, men would wear them.
The proper clothing in the desert is to cover as much skin as possible while allowing for air circulation. You’re going to be hot no matter what, but keeping direct sun off your skin is step one for anyone who has to be exposed.
While burqas represent a lot of reprehensible things and are probably not the most comfortable garment in any warm climate, it’s not like walking around Cincinnati in the summer wrapped in grandma’s comforter.
What are the “with ease” indicators? None that I’ve ever seen. The outward appearance of someone in such a garment tends to be totally neutral, showing neither an indication of comfort nor discomfort. So your “seemingly with ease” comment is somewhat confusing. I mean, how can you tell? If a woman were dripping with sweat or completely miserable, how would you know?
As I understand the religious and cultural customs that often are aligned with wearing of this garment, it is not as though the woman is free to express her displeasure. About what she’s wearing or anything else.
Well, they do have voices. And plenty of women do express that they like their burqa, that they would feel vulnerable to men’s eyes if they couldn’t wear it, and I believe them.
Plenty of women in the US like to wear stiletto heels. Doesn’t mean it’s good for their bodies or that it’s comfortable. Those heels hurt like hell, I don’t care how “used to them” you get. You may want to wear them, and I think it should be your right to wear them, but that doesn’t mean they stop deforming your bones. The Worst Shoes for Your Feet
:rolleyes:
Lets first get our apparel terminology and geography right. Burkas are generally worn in Afghanistan and C Asia, , which has a fairly cold climate. And Burka is outerwear, its worn over clothes and the material is fairly thin.
What is worn is “desert” countries is the Abaya which as you can see is fairly loose, like the mens clothing in the region.
Burqa are worn anywhere women chose to wear them, including Chicago. Which gets pretty hot.
Abayat are damn hot, too, but not what the OP was asking about.
I had a friend who married (and then later divorced) a Saudi Arabian, and at times she had to wear this getup. Not a burka, something else.* She said it was actually more protective than not–that is, in that climate, you would pick something like that if you could pick anything at all. She didn’t have to wear one while on his family compound. (Also, on the compound, the women drove around in trucks, even though presumably Saudi women are unable to drive.)
Also, high heels do not hurt like hell. I have a couple of pairs I could hike up mountains in, although I wouldn’t, because it would wreck my shoes.
*Yes, on preview I see that what she was wearing was probably an abaya. Sounds right.
That’s a good point, I really hadn’t thought about the top of it not allowing for a whole lot of air circulation.
Many women probably wear them to appeal to men, but that’s probably because their society has deemed it attractive (or however you want to say that). Sometimes I wonder if it’s up do us to decide if we should impose our norms on them just because it’s different. I’m all for saying ‘if you want out, we’ll help you’, but telling them it’s oppressive, I don’t know. If another country came here and told us what what we’re making women wear is wrong, would that be okay? I know there’s a lot more going on than that, but it’s certainly part of it. There does some to be a double standard. We go over there and say ‘you jerks make your women dress like this and act like that, we’re not going to stand for it’ but at the same time, when they say that to us, we say ‘nuh uh’.
Speaking of seeing burqas in the US, personally, I never have, but I do see plenty of women wearing Hijabs or Chadors (there’s a Muslim center just up the road from my store) and none of them seem to have an issue over it. In fact a fight once broke out in my store because a guy was saying things like ‘you’re in America, you should be wearing American clothes’ while she was yelling back ‘I’m a citizen, I’m a business owner, I’ll dress however I want’. It was a mess, I kicked his redneck ass out but apparently the cops went over to his house because he had pushed her* at one point.
Interestingly, an afterthought I had about that situation is that the freedoms the she has to wear whatever she wants and practice any religion she wants are also the same freedom that he has to speak his mind. But, FTR, my store, I’d kick anyone out that said that.
*Just to be clear, he didn’t directly push her, he pushed a door shut which knocked her back a bit. When she told this to the police they chose to follow up on it and make a home visit. I have no idea how that turned out.
grude and I live in a place where almost everything more than a hijab or niqab is called a burqa, including stuff that is more likely a chador or an abaya. It gets called burqa (not by me, by the locals). But we do have some true burqa-wearers.
Also we don’t live in the desert, so any benefits from the desert are not necessarily benefits here (tropical humid island). I also cannot see how they can be comfortable when they’re worn on top of jeans and long sleeved shirts. I’m a woman and I sit next to them when we ride the bus, so I get to notice the fringes of their shirts or pants.
Hijabs are way more common here, especially in combination with some modern, stylish yet conservative outfit.
