This actor’s thread about burkas went viral because it feels like an antidote to Boris Johnson
10.
As I stood by the window, gazing out into the high-tech semi-desert from the skyscraper window, one burqa-clad woman gave a surprising answer: “Swansea beach in Wales,” she said. /10
— Stephen McGann (@StephenMcGann) August 7, 2018
11.
She told us that she’d been a student at Swansea University in the UK. She’d loved it, and my British voice had brought back touching memories for her of that time. Her favourite place had been by the beach. /11
— Stephen McGann (@StephenMcGann) August 7, 2018
12.
She’d go there in her free time, and walk, and think, and feel. The brisk Welsh wind would whip her veil as she walked. She was happy there, and the world was newly minted. /12
— Stephen McGann (@StephenMcGann) August 7, 2018
13.
We all listened, moved. We could see it all, and we could see all of her. /13
— Stephen McGann (@StephenMcGann) August 7, 2018
14.
And that was the thing. The only thing I *couldn’t* see of her was the small details the burqa covered. Everything else was as clear as it was human. Everything important was communicated. /14
— Stephen McGann (@StephenMcGann) August 7, 2018
15.
We live in a world full of our own veils. Presentations of the self that each of us makes to others in order to communicate some important aspect of ourselves. Religious. Political. Tattoos on the skin. /15
— Stephen McGann (@StephenMcGann) August 7, 2018
16.
. Fashions and flags and non-verbal codes that tell others what we think worth knowing on our journey through our life. /16
— Stephen McGann (@StephenMcGann) August 7, 2018
17.
Sometimes these are social. Sometimes a signal. An aspiration, or a mark of belonging. But underneath that paper-thin carapace lies a commonality of character and feeling. A story worth telling. /17
— Stephen McGann (@StephenMcGann) August 7, 2018
18.
The veil is not the story. It never was. The story is the young woman. Standing on that beach in South Wales. Alone. Far from home. Thinking. Feeling. Everything important communicated. /end.
— Stephen McGann (@StephenMcGann) August 7, 2018
And here are some of his exchanges with people who replied.
Maybe, just maybe those women we open, intelligent and funny because they didn’t get the chance to express themselves? It says something in the fact they were all women? I hate repression and I hate misogyny in all its forms. What you describe says a lot about the society there.
— Peter Jeffries #Sovereign (@BILDERBERG_GP) August 7, 2018
Or maybe they just didn’t need any man to explain that day, or that room, to them?
— Stephen McGann (@StephenMcGann) August 7, 2018
When I see a Burqa I see repression in the name of misogyny and misguided religious directives. I see brainwashing such that some of those wearing it will argue most strongly on religious or cultural grounds why they should wear it. I feel as sad as seeing a caged bird bird.
— Dr Cyclops (@CyclopsDr) August 7, 2018
Hello. Who are you? What’s your name? Where do you live? Why do you hide behind that pseudonym? Aren’t you proud enough for us to see the real you? All I can see of this online mask you wear is a troll or bot. Perhaps you’re not – but why should I ever think beyond that mask?
— Stephen McGann (@StephenMcGann) August 7, 2018
The assumption is always that the burka = repression. Stop looking at this through your western values. Maybe they don’t feel the need to dress fashionably and wear makeup to validate themselves. Maybe they want their value to be seen in who they are and not how they look
— Nikki Cumiskey #FBPE (@lyssa_maniai) August 7, 2018
I’ve a friend lives/works in the UAE. She cannot express herself there, lives in fear of rape. But she feels free in the UK. Perhaps the woman you describe felt free because of the hard won freedoms of expression Swansea benefits from? Did you ask her if she feels same in Dubai?
— Mike Booton (@mbooton) August 7, 2018
Is it possible that she might simply have been feeling normal human happiness by the sea? Happy in her work? In her life? In her favourite place? Does her fulfilment in that scene depend only on the political filters you deem important? Why?
— Stephen McGann (@StephenMcGann) August 7, 2018
