Here in Québec we are having a big parliamentary commission (Bouchard-Taylor Commission) on reasonable accommodation. This in itself is not a bad thing (although expensive) except that all the yahoos have come out of the woodwork (which was probably to be expected). Having listened to the commission on TV a couple of times, here is what passed through my mind as I listened.==============================
Please people be honest, as we say in French "assume toi!". If I hear one more of you start your rant by saying that you are not xenophobic or racist and that some of your friends are visible minorities, I'll scream. When you tell the commissioners that we shouldn't allow turbans, hijabs, furry hats and long black coats, and that our poor Québec culture is being submerged by the rising hoard of immigrants with strange headgear and funny hair, YOU ARE BEING XENOPHOBIC AND RACIST! So ASSUME TOI!!!!
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To the women's libbers. Yes I know that our grandmothers and our mothers and our sisters and our wives have worked hard to gain equality with men in Québec. I know it was a long hard slog and that we are finally getting there. Thank goodness for that, nobody believes in it more than I do but trying to force these rights and freedoms onto someone against their wishes is not the way to go. If they want to wear the hijab...THAT IS THEIR CHOICE not yours. They are not trying to force you or your daughters to wear them, they just want the freedom to do as they please. Forcing them to take off their hijab because you think it is a sign of inequality between men and women is taking away their freedom of choice and that is precisely the thing that you fought so hard against.
It also crosses my mind that I haven't heard you howling about the images that young girls are subjected to in our modern egalitarian society... you know the songs where women are treated as sl*ts and b*tches and the dress code is more likely to be found in a sleazy motel room than the board room.
It also crosses my mind that I haven't heard you howling about the images that young girls are subjected to in our modern egalitarian society... you know the songs where women are treated as sl*ts and b*tches and the dress code is more likely to be found in a sleazy motel room than the board room.
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And then there are our dear politicians... hey Pauline that bill that you want passed by the Assemblé National (parliament) of Québec, I find that it's a really good idea. You know the one that takes away certain citizenship rights, such as the right to run for political office, from immigrants that can't pass a French test. It's such a good idea that I'd enlarge the scope of it. Make everyone in Québec pass the French exam... every man, woman and child. I figure that we'd eliminate about 40% of Québecers, if the quality of the French I've been reading in the comments about reasonable accommodation is anything to go by. As a bonus, we'd probably get rid of a bunch of politicians along the way.
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So Mr. Commisioners Bouchard and Taylor, if I could humbly suggest a short succinct recommendation for your report... it can be writtewn in only four words... LIVE AND LET LIVE!!!
10 comments:
ugh.
So much is so WRONG!
Guess I'll need to become a politician to fix all these screw ups.
Do I hear a vote?
You have some good points. But I don't hang out on the internet to think. I need another beer.
Damn you, BB, you stole my blog. Now I'll have to turn my mind on and find something else - you covered all the bases.
Oh, and Tai? How well do you speak French?
oh uh...oui! Je parle a francais tres bien! *cough* *cough* Et j'aime Jazz et le Grand Frere. Beaucoup! (hmmm, did that pass muster?)
So all campaign contributions can be sent to.....
:)
Live and let live indeed. Quebec culture survived the Plains of Abraham, Trudeau, and the FLQ crisis. It will not die from some of its inhabitants wearing hijab.
V.
Great rant! I am impressed. As for categorizing people and denying them full rights due to their ethnic customs, oh yeah, that's xenophobic. Categorizing people, well that is both shades of Brave New World and Naziism. But, as my friend Voyager says, if you can survive especially Trudeau, then you can survive anything.Such debates, too, always bring out the badasses and rednecks, no matter where you go. We had a premier (of sorts) named Bill Vander Zalm who vociferously objected to the fact that there were French words on his morning cornflakes box, and expressed that in the media. Lots rallied to his cause, crying out: "Yeah, me too!"
Live and let live, indeed. Unless you happen to be a bug that I don't like.
But some of my best friends... Okay, never mind.
I'm going to ignore that you used the expression "women's libbers" and say that as a strong feminist, I absolutely support any woman's right to wear the apparel of her religion, even if I don't care for the symbolism behind it.
Oh, also, this feminist has indeed howled about the images young girls are subjected to. But I don't attribute it to the egalitarian society - I think it is part of the backlash against egalitarianism - a way of keeping women powerless.
CS, sorry about the womens libbers, not very PC. Unfortunately not all feminists are as tolerant as you are. As for the images girls are subjected to, I agree with you, it's a way of putting down women and frankly I'm appalled that many of my adolescent students buy into this sort of thing.
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