Some thoughts on protesting, on what people can and cannot wear, on tolerance in society.

We’re supposed to have “light showers and a gentle breeze’ today according to my weather app. The “gentle breeze” is remarkably chilly. And judging by the way it’s blowing the washing I have optimistically hing out to dry in the garden it’s not all that gentle either. 

Apparently Greta Thunberg has been put on a plane to France. “Greta Thunberg is departing Israel on a flight to France,” Israel’s foreign ministry said on its official X account, along with two photos of the activist on board a plane. She’s been getting negative press from some quarters, accusations of being a narcissist; some people clearly don’t understand the concept of taking action just because it’s the right thing to do and not because you are a seeker after fame! 

Here’s a bit of Michael Rosen:

“After we kill the people, then what?

We kill the people who saw us kill the people.

Then what?

Everyone leaves.

Then what?

We move in.

Then what?

That's what.”

And here’s a cartoon:

And some artwork: All eyes on Madleen by Sally Samir.

Back in the 1970s, I was a teacher at a quite large comprehensive school with a very mixed collection of pupils: white, asian, afro-caribbean. Everyone wore the school uniform. Girls (and female staff) were not allowed to wear trousers as a rule but the muslim girls wore white trousers under their uniform skirt as they were not to show their legs. Nobody wore the hijab. It was generally accepted that eventually the muslim girls would no longer be told by their religious leaders to cover their legs or allowed by the headteacher to wear trousers. I’m not sure that that change ever came about but there was largely a feeling of tolerance and an optimism for things to continue to become freer. 

How things have changed since then! And now we have a Reform UK MP asking if Keir Starmer planned to follow the example of other European countries and prohibit the burqa. And Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch says bosses should be able to ban the burqa in the workplace, stating that she does not see constituents at her surgeries if they have their faces covered, “whether it’s a burqa or a balaclava”.

Are we as a society becoming less tolerant and accepting? I remember a time when women were not supposed to wear trousers to work, when air hostesses (hostesses, please not, rather than cabin crew!) were expected to wear heels of a certain height and to be perfectly coiffed and made up. Go a step or two further back in time and my grandmother, a most respectable lady (my mother’s description of her mother-in-law) would not leave the house without her hat, and women who didn’t go as far as a formal hat usually work a headscarf. Will we go back to that? 

Here’s a link to an article by Nadeine Asbali, a secondary school teacher in London and the author of Veiled Threat: On Being Visibly Muslim in Britain, writing about how unsafe and threatened she feels because of changes in our society.

We’ve been watching the Netflix series “Yellowstone”. All the men in Montana seem to wear cowboy hats all the time: outdoors on their horses or in their cars, in the bars (even for dancing) and at formal dinners, where the only seem to remove their hats to say grace before eating. And now there’s something of a controversy about who can or cannot, should or should not wear a mask to cover their face. Basically, ICE agents - yes; protestors - no!

“The hypocrisy of this administration is simply unbearable. If you’re an actual insurrectionist, such as those who participated in the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol by destroying federal property and attacking law enforcement officers, you’ll receive a pardon or a commutation of your sentence. But if you join the protests against Ice raids in Los Angeles, you face military opposition.”

So much for freedom! 

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!