Uncovering the World Under the Veil

In attempting to make the leap from her usual travel beat to current events, Susan Spano really stepped in it with her Oct. 28 article (“For Muslim Women, Proper Dress Is an Issue Clothed in Complexity”) about how liberating wearing the hijab can be.

Maybe she should send a copy to Condoleezza Rice, President Bush’s national security advisor, a former Stanford professor who graduated from college at age 19, who is a former competitive figure skater, a concert-level pianist, an authority on U.S.-Russia relations and a beautiful African American (non-Muslim) woman, to let her know that she would be taken much more seriously if she covered herself from head to toe.

There are so many wonderful places to visit where women are welcome. Why would we want to spend our hard-earned travel dollars where we are looked at as something vulgar? Let’s try to temper our lust for adventure and resist visiting those fascinating but inhospitable places where women are not welcome, covered or not.

JULIANE HIGGITT

San Pedro