Religious Issues?
This first link I'm going to post here is to another hijab/soccer article.
Alberta?ThereAreMuslimsInAlberta?
Alberta Soccer Association spokesman Gary Roy said there are concerns that the headscarves pose a danger to players. He said this is not a religious issue.
You know what? I believe him. To him, it's not a religious issue - why would it be? He's no doubt a white Christian fellow who sincerely believes that head coverings prevent a hazard - to the girls wearing them - in sport. It would be no more complex than that for him. Sport associations are rule-based entities, there to enforce whatever rules have been decided on by the white Christian fellows made them up.
And they would be white, and they would be Christian, and they would be fellows - even when we're talking about girls soccer - they're fellows at the top. Men, men, men - it's always raining men because they're always above you if you're a girl. That's just the way it is.
Oops, there I go. Being a feminist bitch - again. But aside from all that, headscarves probably DO prevent a hazard on the field (and in the ring). That's my view, anyway (although... I'm just a woman). Still, and by all means, Muslim girls and ladies - challenge the rules. That's what Canadian women did and do - ALL THE TIME. And it has made for a leveller playing field for everybody, not just in the white Christian male world of sports, but everywhere in society.
Seriously. I know, I know. It probably seems like you're coming up against a lot of men (white, Christian) in your fight to dress in the style to which you are accustomed, but voting, er, soccer is a privilege - not a right. Er, like voting, I guess. But nevermind all that now because you are in a place where women are the most liberated women in the world.
And, we are, I have no doubt, the most liberated women in the world. Which is why over 50% of the graduates of medical school are women - beating by far the old percentage when women weren't even allowed to attend medical school in this country. And over 50% of lawyers are women. And soon engineering schools (this is funny, Muslim moms - not long after the Montreal Massacre there was a "No Means No" campaign to inform young men on campuses across the country that sexual assault is assault and an Engineering residence at Queens - one of our real "old boy" universities we used to have - staged a counter-campaign called "No Means Harder" - you know, because there weren't any female students in engineering then, anyway) will be graduating women in those percentages, too.
So, by all means - challenge the rules. ALL the rules. But, and it's a big butt (like JLo's), I couldn't help but notice this:
Safaa Menhem wears the kind of scarf that has a Velcro strap under the chin. Roy said the referee who pulled her from the game was concerned that the chin strap was a choking hazard and wasn't convinced it would break away immediately if someone were to pull on it.The decision effectively prevents Menhem from taking the field with her team on Saturday. She said she was planning to show up for the game, wearing her hijab, even if she has to remain on the sidelines.
Hm. So... What if a Muslim man was the head of the Alberta Soccer Association and he said (in accordance with the rules that he and his fellow Muslim men had made up) that you couldn't play soccer because head coverings are a safety hazard - for you - AND, since you HAVE to wear the hijab, well, maybe soccer isn't something Muslim girls should be playing?
I'm just asking because I don't think this IS so much the religious issue the media is making it out to be. To be perfectly frank, I don't even think it's a sexist issue, as I'm making it out to be here. (And will continue to do so for the duration of this piece - and probably the rest of my life, too.) I think it's very much a safety/insurance issue - just like Gary Roy didn't quite say - and anybody who has been involved in sport at all in this country over the past couple of decades knows all about the sports/safety/insurance issue. In fact, and I hate to sound like Rudy 9/11 Giuliani here, but, well, thanks to 9/11, insurance rates are through the roof in sports.
EVERYTHING'S a safety/insurance issue thanks to 9/11.
It's true. I know it sounds crazy, but, well, there's a connection between 9/11 and head scarves and insurance as sure as my friend in suburban Ottawa who ran a home daycare in our neighbourhood received a special letter in 10/11 informing her that home daycare rates would be going up on account of the safety/insurance concerns caused by 9/11.
Anyway, I kind of got off on a tangent there, but I meant to say: Just take off the hijab, play the game, put the hijab back on, 'cause this one ain't gonna get any more accommodating. In fact, the next one up will be sleeves and whether or not you should be allowed to wear long sleeves because of the unfair advantage long sleeves present - against you - when other girls, sleeveless girls, grab your sleeves to pull you away from the ball.
And it's not gonna be a religious issue then, either. It's not even gonna be a sexist issue. It's gonna be a safety issue or a competitive advantage issue or something like that. Trust me - nobody's out to get you. It just seems like that. And just because they're all men, well, they're not out to get you, either. It's just that everybody who's anybody is a man.
Seriously. I was a girl athlete. (Softball was my favourite sport. We weren't allowed to play baseball, of course - which I really would have preferred - because baseball was (is?) just for boys. And our coach was the Vice-Principal, a man, of course, because lady teachers had to wear dresses in those days to differentiate themselves from gentleman teachers and boys, who wore the only pants allowed at school - unlike back at the lady teachers' houses - if they were lucky enough to be married and have a man to cater to after work - where they could wear pants if their husbands didn't mind. Also, lady teachers weren't in Administration, so only men teachers could become Vice-Principals.)
Fortunately for us girls then and you girls now - even you Muslim girls - the men in charge of girls' sports really are the kind of men, sexist or not, that you want because it's like Gary Roy says, "It's not a religious issue". That's because it's really all about sports to those guys. They're not being dicks, they're being jocks. And there's a big difference, believe me.
I mean, check this out and you'll understand exactly what I mean:
YouMustShowYourFaceToVoteNoMatterHowIrrelevantItIs
See, that's an actual piece of legislation, supported by the male leaders of all three mainstream political parties in Canada (female leaders don't do well in Canadian politics because they're always either at the helm of the NDP or Kim Campbell) that doesn't have anything to do with anything except pure unadulterated bigotry. Now THAT is worth fighting - Bill C-6.
The hijab in sports? Well, if you CAN'T take it off - that's another battle and it's one even more worth fighting than Bill C-6. If you CAN, then take it off.
As they say very wisely - those who have fought them (not me, I just sucked it up and waited until some other woman came along and did something about it because I prefer being liked by men to not on account of I make for pretty easy pickings already, if you catch my drift) - pick your battles.
