It is just a piece of clothing, actually. Context gives the object meaning. If I wore one as a white man, no one would mistake me for a devout Muslim female. If these girls wanted to do Tie a Scarf Around Your Head Because it’s Fun Day, with no religious connection, it would have happened without interruption.

I’ll try. If your reasoning is sound, then applying it to a comparable situation should give us a similar conclusion, right? So, since I’m white, and I listen to black rappers, if I hear a musician use the n-word in a song, do you think I am causing them to be oppressed? According to you, they couldn’t hope to reclaim…

I totally agree that Islam, in general, and like other religions, institutions, and other constructs, is misogynist. I’m not in favor of it. I’m not sure how that extrapolates to denying little girls the chance to ask their peers to try on some different clothing for a day.

I would be happy to see most aspects of religion removed from public life. I think proselytizing is basically repugnant and people should keep their religious beliefs closely-held. However, education is compulsory for everyone, bringing various communities together in a single place, and since a school is supposedly a…

So it’s not the women covering themselves, then, it’s the westerners who tolerate covering that to some extent empowers oppressors? Basically, someone like me, who thinks it’s essentially innocuous to wear hijab, helps make the stoning of adulterers possible? Is that right, or are you going to move the target again?

Right, Islam is patriarchal and misogynist. Great point.

I’m not trying to change your mind, just understand your argument. If you really give so few fucks, I’m not sure why it’s necessary to say so.

I think acts of solidarity are by necessity limited in scope. You can’t include everyone’s issues at once.

As far as women and others being second class citizens, the constitution and sharia aren’t so divergent. My guess is that most people who cover themselves are not hardcore adherents of fundamentalist Sharia, so I think it’s okay to chill out about it.

Everyone experiences some sort of pressure to meet some standard of modesty, or immodesty. I’m sure you feel pressure to wear clothing for some things at least sometimes. Is getting dressed anti-feminist? According to you, it seems like it would be.

No doubt the practice is rooted in misogyny, however there’s nothing inherently misogynist about dressing that way, is there? I think that’s true, and in that case it can’t be considered misogynist if it’s done as a free choice.

You don’t accept that covering could be anything but oppression. You think it’s not only a form of self-defeat, but it causes others to be harmed, is that right? Let’s say a person voluntarily wears handcuffs, going about their day in them. It doesn’t matter why in this case, because handcuffs are a clear symbol of…

Only muslims criminalize women of all faiths who dare to not wear a veil.

It’s patronizing to say that their actions have no affect in the world

That’s really reaching. When you start up iTunes, is that tacit approval of abusive labor practices? When you use electricity, is that tacit approval of climate change? Maybe to some extent those things are true, but why single out these people and deny this specific instance? Because they’re Muslim.

...forced modesty, or maybe forced immodesty. I don’t get how people can insist with a straight face that Muslim women should trade their evil Saudi-style austerity blanket for our awesome, shiny, western iShackles. The only solution that seems reasonable to me is to let people decide for themselves how to dress, even…

Unless you’re a 24/7 nudist, all people everywhere accept some arbitrary level of forced modesty (a pejorative term for something in any other circumstance people would consider a virtue). The only reason this voluntary student event was canceled because they’re Muslim.

It’s such a bizarre idea that a school is no place for a student to express their identity, engage with their culture, or share their ideas. These Muslim students are simply asking their peers to try something new. Are you really offended by the request, or are you really offended by Islam and Muslims in general?…

If you ever decide to leave the country, you’ll realize it’s simply good manners to be respectful of and to try to adopt the practices and customs of another culture, no matter how SCARY they might be.

My parents told me I was smart all the time, but now I’m a dumbass loser.