Me too, Stella, being hard of hearing in any language, I find it easier to follow conversation if I can lip-read. But I can’t construct the world and other people to suit my convenience or my expectations of the people I meet. I am not the centre of the universe, and it takes all types, all modes of dress, all shapes, sizes, colours, tongues, manners, customs… and I see it as a basic obligation to meet them on equal terms, and to trust that they will reciprocate, as Tim said earlier.
Do people who feel threatened by a woman with her face covered encounter this threat often, I wonder? From the intensity of the feeling I would have thought there was a burqa round every corner, or a niqab on every doorstep delivering Colipost. I think that much of this anxiety is fuelled by fantasy, not day-to-day experience.
This debate is all very well but to go back to Mr Johnson, whatever the pros and cons of wearing facial protection is somebody in his position should not make cheap jokes about those who choose to dress that way. His opinion is as valid as anybody else’s but his attempt at a gutter humour that might go down well in an Elton dormitory is not fitting for a Member of Parliament, especially one who writes for a newspaper which projects its content to the right of centre.
I’m not the centre of the universe either… Peter… and I’m not seeking the change the world or other people… why would I…
The world into which I was born… and in which I live… suits me very well… the French government has already debated this… facial-recognition, facial/communication/understanding is very much a part of French Culture… and I agree with them.
Well, Stella, why - if you don’t want to change people - are you in support of a law that will criminalise women to make them change the way they dress?
They are likely to face arrest, public humiliation, perhaps in front of their children, being stripped by a stranger in a cell, finger-printed, having DNA taken forcibly, taken before an examining magistrate, subject to a fine or restraining order…
If you will re-read my posts, please identify the words or phrases within them…that you are taking to support your various accusation/assumptions…because it is clear (to me at least) that you are completely misunderstanding what I have written…
Meanwhile, please find someone else to have a go at…
I won’t refer to you again in this context Stella, except to thank you for making your views on France banning the face-veil very clear, and beyond any misunderstanding whatsoever!
If you were really curious, Nellie, you could look at her hands. Age shows very clearly how a person has aged, and they will show the complexion too. Muslim women don’t normally wear gloves unless it’s biting cold. A woman’s hands are usually markedly different from the male hand in shape and size, quite apart from the appearance of rings, bracelets or nail varnish which usually denote gender choice.
Body shape, posture and movement also tell an eloquent story about gender and age. Women and men have characteristically different forms of physical expressiveness, in moving, walking, sitting and in their gestures. We instinctively recognise these in each other, race and culture may add a different touch.
So the idea that only the face makes recognition possible has to be questionable.
Nellie, I can see that this matter worries you a lot and I am genuinely sorry to have added to your anxiety by my replies. Your nervousness is not unnatural, I do understand that. I do feel strongly about the matter for family reasons, but you have reasons for feeling as you do, and I don’t blame you and shan’t criticise you again.
I hope whatever can be done to make you feel safe will come about, and you have my sincere wishes in that respect. Peter
I take exception to you calling the comparison invalid and tendentious, you may not feel threatened by someone hiding their face, but I do.
In these days of terrorist acts everywhere, it is important that someone is identifiable if only to arrest him after the event. Numerous jihadis have escaped dressed as a female in full enveloping clothing.
I suggest that you accept another person’s opinion and not attempt to rubbish it.
I’m not the centre of the universe either… Peter… 
and I’m not seeking the change the world or other people… why would I…
!