Blogtrek

Would you pose nude to get a driver's license?

In Florida there has been this issue about a woman who had her picture taken for a driver's license. She was a Muslim and wore the veil all the time in public. She insisted on wearing it for her driver license photo. However, Florida authorities ruled that that was not valid. She would have to expose her face to have a valid photo taken. That seems reasonable enough. Having the face visible is needed for identification.

But look at it from the woman's point of view. Would you pose nude to get a driver's license? Suppose the law required you to have your nude picture taken and placed on your license because clothes can prevent one from identifying you. You sure would object, wouldn't you? Well, this is how this woman feels. We have our taboos on nudity; these may not be reasonable but we live with them. They say we need to cover certain parts of our anatomy, mainly in the crotch and buttocks, and for women, the breasts. For this Muslim woman, the taboo area includes her face as well. To her, going out in public without a veil on is like one of us bare-faced individuals going out without anything on. Looking at it from this view, don't you see her point?

Of course, issues like this are rarely simple, and this is no exception. The same Muslim religion that requires her to wear a veil also forbids her from driving; that's a male privilege. So she should not be getting a license to begin with, unless she breaks with the teachings of her sexist religion, in which case why the veil on the driver's license? What Florida is saying, then, is that if your religion allows you to drive, then in order to drive, you need to expose your face. This could violate someone's religious views or scruples, and it's possible that a case could come up which does just that. But in this case it appears that it doesn't. I see the woman's point but if she wants to drive, she needs to consider removing the veil.