In many of our ESOL type classes we get that a lot, and its f-ing florida 100degrees and humid and here comes the fam, dad in shorts and tshirt and some coco sunglasses, kids dressed the same both boys and girls- then the wife in the full garb... but ya know respect for other cultures n shit /shrug... I wonder when does the female children have to start wearing that stuff? like is there an age? puberty? /wonder
I used to teach ESL at a place that where 60% of the students were Saudi adult women. They'd come in with their full burkas, showing only the eyes, and try to learn English and pass English tests like TOEFL and IELTS. I couldn't help thinking three things:
1) Why the fuck are they bothering with these tests? They're basically a house slave so they''re never going to use these exam certificates to get a job.
2) How the fuck can I teach you proper English speaking and pronunciation when your voice is permanently muffled and I can't see your mouth/lips/tongue to see and help with proper sound formation?
3) All of them have fucked up eyebrows. Seriously, their eyebrows make those Hispanic sharpie eyebrows look good. Every Saudi woman I've ever seen has either a) shaved off her eyebrows and drawn them on horribly or b) horribly bleached/dyed her eyebrows blonde and redrawn over them. I guess since that's the only part they're allowed to show they try to be as creative as possible, but when I was teaching them it was like this giant horrible eyesore that I couldn't look away from, like talking to someone with a huge booger hanging out.
The sad part was that all of them were extremely intelligent, motivated, and overall just wonderful people. I have no doubt that the vast majority of the students I taught would have been highly successful if they were able to live in "typical" American culture and not be oppressed like they were.
So yeah, jimmies were definitely rustled when I worked there.
Also--and this might sound mean--it's incredibly funny to watch women in full burkas trying to eat in public. With every bite they have to lift up the little veil that hangs over the lower part of their face to bring the fork to their mouth, but not lift it up too much and show their face. So much effort to do something that should be so simple.