Behind the Burqa (IR)

For our independent reading, my group decided on "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini. The book gives a fantastic inside view on life in Kabul under the Taliban and Sharia law. The book really appealed to my feminist critic side because it goes in depth about the treatment and status of women in Kabul. The two main characters in the book are Laila and Miriam and when Kabul comes under Taliban rule they are no longer allowed to venture outside A.) unless they have a male relative with them and B.) if they are wearing a Burqa. Burqas have always terrified me. They seem like more like a cage than actual clothing.
The Burqa:

The Burqa is the more extreme form of traditional head coverings such as the Hajib, Naqib and Chador. It literally covers women from head to toe, leaving a mesh covered part for the eyes so women retain some vision. They're heavy and they're hot. Their supposed purpose is to keep men from temptation. In the western world they're seen by many as a sign of oppression. France actually outlawed the wearing of burqas for that reason as well as security reasons.  The thing I found most interesting about the Burqa when I was reading "A Thousand Splendid Suns" and later "The Swallows of Kabul" was that at first the female characters hated the garment but in time they almost grew attached to it. Yes, the burqa is demeaning and sexist and uncomfortable, yet it did offer a sort of protection. All the female characters had the realization that when they wore the burqa they seemed to get more respect from people around them and the anonymity it offered protected them from leers and stares. I ran into a sort of similar situation when I was traveling in India. After the first day, I learned to always cover my hair when I went out because when I did men stopped bothering me. I gained respect and the cute street-children didn't try to stop me and pull on my red hair to see if it was actually real. I didn't want to stand out as a white woman traveling in India and covering my hair helped a lot. It was a really good thing for a woman to not stand out in Taliban-run Kabul and the the burqa provided that.
I'm not saying that the burqa is a good thing. It's horrible that woman are forced to hide their faces and lose a big part of their individual expression just for the sake of saving weak men from temptation. It's sexist and revolting. However one should not overlook the fact that perhaps some women may want to keep the burqa. I argued in the 10th grade human rights paper that if women in France wanted to wear the burqa, they should be allowed to. That is as long as its a personal choice and not one being forced upon them by men.