Department of Linguistics
A NATIONAL BULLETIN ON ISSUES IN
AUSTRALIAN STYLE AND ENGLISH IN AUSTRALIA
| Volume 18 No 1 | September 2011 |
| A version of this article was first published in Campus Review on 30.03.10.
BurkiniThe recent passing of draft legislation in NSW to allow police to demand the removal of burqas and other veils has repoened the public debate in Australia about the conflict between religious and civil liberties. This debate has often focussed on Islamic traditions, especially in France where a woman created international news in 2009 when she was banned from swimming in a full length swimming suit, in keeping with her Muslim beliefs. It was reported as another chapter in the battle between the French government and Islamic custom – as when the hijab was banned from schools in 2004 – although the swimming pool staff claimed it was actually a question of hygiene. Another controversy arose from the naming of the offending article of clothing. Many reporters used the word burkini (or burqini) which is a trademark belonging to an Australian-based designer of swimwear, who objected it was not one of their costumes. Burkini is a strange fusion of burqa – the long garment designed for the modest concealment of Muslim women, and the bikini – the French invention that shocked the world in the 1950s by being so revealing. You can even get a hijood (a blend of hijab (veil) and hood), or a veilkini. The trend in women’s swimwear appears to be towards the conservative, from the topless monokini of the freewheeling 1960s to the more demure tankini. Perhaps the burkini is the next logical step. Adam Smith |