To Wear or Not To Wear

"Egyptian woman protest ban on austere veil"
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/10/13/niqab/index.html

This article may catch the reader off guard at first. After all, usually the debate over the niqab - the full veil headress worn by many Muslim women in the Middle East - regards a fight over a woman's right not to wear it. However, when an all male committee in Egypt decided for Eqyptian women that they cannot wear the veil in all female university settings, heated debate was sparked as well. One from our culture might ask, Why would they want to wear the veil? Instead, the real question should be, why aren't these women allowed to make this decision for themselves? Whether the rule is for wearing or not wearing the veil really does not matter because either way, a man is still demanding that a woman act a certain way under his unjust coercion.

At one point in the article, a link directs the reader to a survey asking "Do you think Muslim women should wear the niqab? Tell us below in the SoundOff Box." This makes me a little angry. This survey is promoting the idea that wearing the niqab is something legitimately up for debate, that other opinions beyond each woman's own personal choice should matter. Really, in a just and righteous world, this issue is not up for discussion; rather, wearing a niqab should be a woman's personal decision made by her and her alone.