….not a controversy?
Pat Kenny did a segment on the Egan “hijab” case a few days ago; the Egans still want to campaign to make the wearing of the Hijab in Irish schools a matter of right, rather than leaving it to the individual school as per Department of Education policy. However as was noted by so many callers and respondents to the show, the fact that there is nothing stopping their daughter from wearing the headscarf to her school and the fact that her school has not banned it seems to be a matter of dismay rather than rejoicing for the Islamic converts.
It is hard not to ask why, when they have managed to get their own way in this, they continue to make it an issue; one cannot help thinking that if the school or Department had refused their request outright they would have been happier. It is in fact hard not to feel that the Egans wanted to be refused, they wanted to make an issue out of it, and the middle ground espoused by the State has somewhat taken the wind out of their sails.
I make no secret of the fact that I find their attitude irritating; they have no grounds to complain, their child is allowed to wear it, they simply want to impose their own agenda on others. I also make no secret of the fact that I reject the apologist’s explanation for the wearing of the Hijab; I’ve said it all before so I won’t repeat myself.
There was however one comment of the Egan’s that annoyed me a few months ago and seeing as it has arisen again I’m going to comment on it now.
I remember Mr Egan’s response in one newspaper; he lectured the reader on cultural awareness and inparticular one phrase stuck in my mind “no public space is culturally nuetral.”
I would like to congratulate Mr Egan, we’ve finally found some common ground! Yes, no public space is culturally nuetral. And in Ireland the culture dominating that public space is Irish. This does not mean that we cannot or should not accommodate other cultures – but we do Ireland a disservice if we allow Irish public space to be abused by cultural expressions that in any way denigrate or diminish our citizens. And women make up a good half of the citizenry of this country.
As for schools, Schools are not entirely public spaces. I cannot simply wander in off the street and poke around a school. They are protected spaces, and subject to rules partly determined by the State and partly by the administration of the school. Uniforms are and always have been an accepted part of School culture. Schools have the right to impose uniforms, and to punish deviation from uniforms. These are the rules, and they apply to all pupils in the school equally.
Equally, there’s the rub. The fact is that many cultures demand a garment be worn in direct contravention of a school’s uniform policy; Music cultures for example frequently impose garments and modes of dress, in order to show allegiance to or appreciation of that culture. But I have yet to find a school that will allow children to contravene uniform policy by dressing like a punk, and dismiss it as “cultural”.
And the wearing of the Hijab, we are repeatedly reminded, is cultural, not religious.
