I do wonder if they would let a nun wear her head scarf. But considering Cedar Point and Michigan Adventure both told my son to remove his hat before the rides, I have to think the women should have removed their scarves. I don't think it happened because they are Muslim, I think it happened because they wanted special treatment. Rye Playland was shut down Tuesday after cops scuffled with Muslims upset that women wearing head scarves were barred from the rides, witnesses said. Fifteen people, including three women, were charged with disorderly conduct and assault in the chaos, authorities said. The Westchester County park was packed with Muslims celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr - the holiday marking the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. One woman, Entisai Ali, began arguing with cops over the amusement park's head scarf, or hijab, rule, said Dena Meawad, 18, of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. The ban, which is not Muslim specific, was imposed about 3 years ago mostly to prevent hats from falling onto the tracks of roller coasters and other rides, park officials said. "The cops started getting loud with her and she started getting loud, too. They pushed her on the ground and arrested her," Meawad said. Her cousin, Kareem Meawad, 17, went to try to protect the woman and was beaten by cops and also arrested, she added. Her brother, Issam Meawad, 20, was pushed to the ground and taken into custody when he tried to help his cousin, she said. "She just wanted to get on a ride. That was it," Dena Meawad said of the initial confrontation. "It's clear, this all happened because we're Muslim."...
what religious and cultural significance does your sons hat have? What if they told you in order to go on the ride you would have to go topless? would you concider that equivilant of making your son take his hat off?
They asked my son (and all other head covering wearers) to remove it due to ride safety. They asked the women to do it for the same reason. It had nothing to do with religion. what on earth does removing a shirt have to do with this scenario???
your son wears a hat why? so he doesnt get sun stroke? so he doesnt get burnt? because its fashionable? why? Why do you wear a shirt and bra everywhere? I bet its more than just "its fashionable" To a muslim women who wears the head scarf its the same reasons you cover your breasts.
she can wear it for religious reasons and they can bar her from the ride for safety reasons. Some people handle snakes for religious reasons. Doesn't mean they can do it on the ride.
How is that relevant? There is a rule. It does not target any religion. It applies, equally, and fairly to everyone. Get a grip.
Nuns rarely wear habits anymore. They walk around now looking like homely dykes or environmentalist folk singers. I like the habit, too bad they've modernized. I think its ridiculous to ban a muslim woman from wearing her head scarf to an amusement park. But then again I wonder how she would keep it harnessed during the roller coaster ride.
Same way we keep our saris and dupattas and all the women in the Middle East keep their headscarves in local amusement parks Are there any restrictions on clothing other than the headscarf for rides in the US? I can understand hats and caps since they are not tied and can fly off. Has there been an incident where a headscarf has caused injury? For example at al Shallal in Saudi Arabia? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
If the clothing is loose, flaps around and has a chance of getting caught in something moving at high speed relative to the rider, then I could definitely see something ugly happening, and it wouldn't seem obvious until it actually happened and someone got hurt. Whatever the ride operators ban- if it's hats or loose head coverings, they gotta go, and if a particular religious garment can be legitimately classified as a hat, it's no exception- the option not to ride is always there. If the rule is not important enough to enforce it on a religiously observant rider, then it's not important enough to apply to anyone else either- why were hats banned in the first place, then? The fair solution would be to design new clothing which complies with both the safety rules and religious requirements, as was done recently with female soccer hijabs. Note however that in practicality we can only go so far with this kind of accomodation- expecting that conservative Muslim women should be able to do everything that secular women do while covered from head to toe in loose robes just won't fly, even if certain folks would like to tell you otherwise.
No there are not any restrictions that I know of concerning head scarfs. And no I have never heard of any incident related to headscarfs, but just out of curiosity how do they keep them from flying off in high-winds etc?
Well the whole reason they wear them in the first place is for protection against sandstorms - so if it blew off there wouldn't be any protection. I don't know which headscarf the women was wearing but if she was wearing a typical Arab headscarf, no way it would come off. How do they keep them from flying off - the way its worn. One example http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8Eojhz1gdE&feature=relmfu [you can see other methods on the sidebar] Thats a fair statement. But then, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did - on high heels and backwards. So it seems to me, you can leave those women to determine for themselves what they can and cannot do
From the way I see this woman describing how she puts on her headscarf it should be okay under any conditions. But it reminds me of a funny experience I had as a student in India. I lived with an Indian family in Bangalore and was invited to attend a wedding where I had to wear a sari. They helped wrap the sari around me and they didn't utilize any pins save the slip. Anyway half-way through the wedding my sari began to unravel...yes you're reading it rightPlease Register or Log in to view the hidden image!...It UNRAVELED! I remember these nice older women taking me into some back room where they went about reinstating the bloody fabric. I was soooo embarrassed! It was a source of entertainment you can be sure. I was the foreigner who lost her skirt.
Lol! They should've pinned it for you. Beginners don't know how to walk in a sari and invariably step on the pleats pulling them out of the skirt. Once you wear it regularly, its easy enough that you don't need the pins. Sometimes I feel many of the problems about Muslims come from lack of knowledge about them. Maybe that woman who was kicked off the ride could offer demos of scarf fashions in her locality so people would become aware of how much of an accessory it is and what logistics are involved in pinning and tying it.
Depends... I do not know the logic for the hat ban. But, if it is because it's a danger to everyone on the ride, then the individual does not have the right to make that call.
Sure but you cannot claim a danger based on ignorance. Forget about the US where hardly any women wear them, but there are western style amusement parks and rides all over the Middle East and women ride them wearing whatever hijab is the local custom There are millions of Muslim women who wear scarves and go on rides and I have never heard of an incident where anyone was injured as a result. Have you?
Yeah, you're right! I think the problem in this particular case of the headscarf may come from people who don't know what one can or cannot do in ethnic dress. It may seem like 'sure it will blow off' when it actually won't. Just like you said as a westerner I didn't know how to walk around in a sari and so it unraveled, i bet the same is true for the headscarf if one isn't accustomed. It would take only one or two cases of people wearing a headscarf on a ride in an amusement park to prove it can be done without incident. I think this case is likely due to ignorance.
Given that my attitude's gone far more libertarian over the last few years (IMO), I agree with your assertion. But then there would still have to be an accomodation like signing waivers and having some mutual understanding so the park operators aren't held responsible if something goes wrong as a result, and these kinds of deliberations and considerations can get pretty muddled. The idea of the theme park is for everyone to get away from life and enjoy themselves in a kind of fun fantasy world for a while, so making efforts to accomodate Muslims and other religious minorities to make them feel more comfortable and welcome is perfectly consistent with that theme. Accidents don't happen often in well-regulated amusement parks, but when they do happen it's very ugly and tragic, and it's the worst possible environment for these kinds of things to happen. Nonetheless I believe a reasonable accomodation is possible and will probably be reached once this issue becomes more prominent in the public consciousness. The Muslims for their part need to get down to the hard business of designing and engineering appropriate garb for the occasion, so that will have the nice side effect of generating another line of business for clothes retailers in tough economic times.
I would actually consider a sari or a dupatta more dangerous than a headscarf on a ride, simply because of the amount of material that is "loose". The saree is around 6 yards of material and about one and a half meters of this is loose over one shoulder while the rest is loosely pleated around the waist [or hip depending on how risque you are willing to be] While the dupatta is two and a half meters of material worn as a stole usually wrapped around the neck. Saree: Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Dupatta: Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! If they banned people for wearing these on rides, it would eliminate at least a quarter of the population here. Dude in these electronic times there is no excuse for such ignorant statements. Just go to youtube and type in hijab styles or just go to google: The Sports Hijab proves as popular as the Burkini. Btw, I have it from a reliable source that the burkini has become popular with many non-Muslim women
@SAM And the head scarf is easier to secure. You're right about the sari, its a lot of fabric and much more difficult to navigate, this is why its impressive for me to watch bollywood films where women dance and prance around with grace in their saris. There is no equivalent, absolutely none, in contemporary western clothing fair to prepare a woman for a sari.
