Mennonite Amish and International Students

Ruth Abernethy: When these were first installed, I rolled my eyes a bit at what seemed another instance of how images of the "plain people" — especially Old Order Mennonites — are used to characterize what is now a multicultural community with one of the country highest percentages of immigrants, refugees, and international students and scholars, according to The Waterloo Record. And that also has a great variety of Mennonite and Amish subgroups — about 30 in Ontario generally. For the city 150th birthday in 2007, artist Ruth Abernethy was commissioned to create several sculptural pieces along a boulevard that are essentially benches for sitting, covered with stainless steel mesh in the design of Mennonite or Amish head coverings and bonnets. More recently, however, as intense debates have increased over Muslim women head coverings in Canada, I took another look at these bonnet-benches. While Canadians eagerly line up at the local farmers' market to purchase maple syrup from Mennonite women with head coverings, they are equally eager to express polarizing opinions, often negative, about the choices made by Muslim women to cover their heads. Collectively titled "Choice," the four designs are said to "symbolize the breadth and impact, the respect, responsibility and legacy of inherited choices that continue to shape this community." The contrast between the acceptance of head coverings and other forms of uniform dress worn by conservative Mennonites whose ancestors arrived in Canada over 200 years ago and the resistance to the hijab and niqab worn by more recently arrived Muslim women should not go unnoticed. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.