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That's why I brought up Orthodox Jewish attire, Pizzagirl. It is a form of separatism that you find in some cultures, both internally in the U.S. and elsewhere. But I don't think you can paint every "separatist" culture with the same broad brush. If you try to engage a woman wearing a sheitel in conversation, I don't think it's the same thing as trying to communicate with a person whose face is entirely unseen in a burqa.
We live in a culture that works on a currency of communication, verbal and otherwise. People dressed like the Amish or Hasidim or Catholic clergy or in hijabs/niqabs or any other "religious" dress may be "separate" and live with different mores, but I think we can all agree that this modified dress still leaves open the possibility of communication with the wearer, wheras the burqa rather obviates that.
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