Letters to the Editor
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From a woman in Quebec
I am a white, Christian, middle-aged woman living in Montreal. I regularly participate in the electoral process.
The last time my husband and I went to vote, I forgot my ID at home as we had just flown back into town and I had left it in my carry-on bag. My husband had already cast his ballot, and I found out that I couldn't without ID and I became upset and said that I didn't care, I was too tired, and I was going home. He suggested that we rush home, get my ID and return. But I was just too tired. One of the officials heard our whispered conversation and suggested that my husband could "vouch" for me. So, I read and signed a sworn oath that I was really me and he showed his ID and said I was really me... and then I voted.
Sadly, I have seen a lot of things people think never happens; incidents of racism abound in this constantly-cranky province.
A case in point: a black friend closely being followed in a clothing store (no offers for help, mind you)... she's a banker, dressed to kill, and has more money than any of the women working there, and me in my sweatpants (as it happened that day), looking like a poor person who might not typically "belong" in such a fancy clothing store... they shadow her but smile at me and offer me help!! And sadly, this happened more times than I can count.
DWB (Driving While Black) is too often a reason the cops pull someone over (saw it this morning!). Did the man look like he couldn't afford his nice car? The cops probably thought so.
How many times I've noticed the dirty looks people give to veiled women... openly hostile gazes!! I stopped to assist a veiled woman with her baby carriage down the stairs in the Metro and I got dirty looks! Un-friggin'-believable!
Look, if I can vote without a photo ID, if I am permitted to identify myself withOUT using my face to prove who I am, then why is it any different for a veiled woman? Not to mention the fact that voting by mail doesn't require ANY identification whatsoever!
I think we need to see people as people. I try to make a point of smiling at the people I meet, rather than frowning, and even veiled women smile back (if they only have their eyes exposed, you can easily see their eyes crinkle).
This province is an angry place in which to live, so one must decide to be pleasant, even to the cranky Separatists who categorically refuse to speak anything other than French (even if they have the ability to speak another language)... if you don't adopt a possitive outlook on life, you will always be on edge in this place.
The politics in Quebec are ugly. Sadly, we are now counting the days until we can get the hell out of here.
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Tribalism meeets democracy
The veiling custom originated among desert tribal people. It's a custom rooted in tribalism that got encoded into religion because Islam began in the tribal world.
You can see how this custom arose by looking at Afghanistan. It's still a custom in some regions for men from one tribe to mount raids to steal women from other tribes for forced marriage. If the women are veiled, then the men don't know for sure which women they're stealing. So they don't know whether their raid will yield the women they want to marry.
That's why they say an Afghan man keeps his gold and his women hidden from public view. Anything they put on public view is an invitation to robbery and kidnapping.
Islam, like Judaism, is rooted in the ancient tribal world. I think the diaspora was probably good for Jews because they had to shed a lot of tribal baggage as a consequence. But a lot of the Muslim world is still fully tribal.
It's a kind of contradictory relationship with the modern world to insist that you have a voice in modern public life even though you reject modern public life by embracing a custom that is decidedly tribal and explicitly anti-modern.
I'm not sure what is the best way to handle this contradiction. But I don't think tribalism is going to overtake the modern world. A tribal women voting in her veil is a validation of the power of modern democracy. So it's not something we need to fear.
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The Over-Extended Ovary: A Male Primer on the New American Woman
She says: "Lick me now."
She means: You are probably no comparison to the stimulating texture of my Himalayan SealPoint's tongue but it will do for the moment.
You say: "Ouryghhh."
You mean: You taste like a can of sardines left all day in the sun.
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Rectification
There are a few details that needs clarification in this post:
First, it is a federal by-election that is happening right now, not elections in Quebec; those would be provincial elections (comparable to gubernational elections).
Mr Mayrand, the Chief Electoral Officer for Canada, did not come back on his "previous decision", since the decision discussed was taken by the Chief Electoral Officer for the province of Quebec, Marcel Blanchet, during the last provincial elections in Quebec.
M. Mayrand is making a federal decision, and he is in fact making the decison based on current laws of our country. Some may disagree with the decison - our Prime Minister Stephen Harper does - but it is the law.
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Veiled women and photo ID
I used to work in retail cosmetics and waited on a veiled woman who wanted to use traveler's checks to pay for her purchase. Our policy was to ask for photo ID with checks, and she willingingly obliged. She showed me her face and her passport from Saudi Arabia, her photo taken without a veil. If Saudi Arabia of all places can have photo ID's of women without their faces covered and this woman was willing to show her face & ID to female salesperson in a department store, I don't see why it would be big deal to have female election staff verify the voter's identity. Same goes for that woman in Florida who wanted her driver's license photo taken while veiled. If the religious police in the kingdom of Saud have found a way to make it work, we should be able to, also.