“Hypocrisy on the beach: ‘We’re looking for ostentatious religious signs…’ ‘Have you seen any burkinis or veiled Muslim women?'”
Not wanting to be one of those suffocatingly silent white feminists who have no opinion (or worse, a veiled bigoted opinion) on the burkini ban in France, here is my opinion, like it or lump it:
ANY COUNTRY WHICH PRIDES ITSELF ON LIBERTY, EQUALITY AND FRATERNITY HAS NO BUSINESS BANNING A SWIMWEAR STYLE, WHETHER THEY LIKE IT OR NOT. LIBERTY INCLUDES THE FREEDOM TO WEAR WHATEVER ONE PLEASES, AND PRACTICE WHATEVER RELIGION ONE WANTS. EQUALITY MEANS THAT MEN AND WOMEN HAVE AN EQUAL RIGHT TO BE IN PUBLIC, WHATEVER THEY ARE WEARING. AND FRATERNITY MEANS TREATING THOSE DIFFERENT FROM YOU AS IF THEY WERE YOUR OWN FAMILY.
ANY COUNTRY WHICH PRIDES ITSELF ON FREEDOM OF SPEECH, TO THE POINT WHERE IT CELEBRATES CARTOONISTS WHO GOT KILLED BY TERRORISTS OVER THEIR ANTI-MUSLIM BIGOTRY, HAS NO BUSINESS BANNING A SWIMWEAR STYLE WHICH ENABLES MUSLIM WOMEN TO GO SWIMMING FREELY IN THE SEA (AS ITS CREATOR MEANT IT TO DO), INSTEAD OF STAYING AT HOME, OPPRESSED AND MISERABLE.
ANY COUNTRY WHICH PRIDES ITSELF ON ITS “SECULARISM” HAS NO BUSINESS DICTATING THE RELIGIOUS WEAR OF WOMEN…ESPECIALLY NON-CHRISTIAN WOMEN. UNLESS, OF COURSE, THEY ALSO PLAN TO BAN VEILED NUNS FROM THE BEACH FOR WEARING SOMETHING JUST ABOUT AS CONCEALING AS A BURKINI. WHICH, KINDLY NOTE, THEY HAVE NOT.
AND FINALLY, ANY COUNTRY WHICH COLONIZED THE LANDS THESE SAME WOMEN ORIGINATED FROM REALLY HAS NO BUSINESS COMPLAINING WHEN THE FORMER COLONIALS REFUSE TO CONFORM TO A BIZARRELY HYPOCRITICAL DRESS CODE WHICH IS NOTHING MORE THAN AN EXCUSE TO FURTHER OPPRESS THOSE SAME, IN COWARDLY SEXIST FASHION. THERE IS NOTHING FEMINIST ABOUT THAT.
Sorry for the ALL CAPS shouting, but it damn well had to be said. I hope it was loud and clear enough for all the people at the back.
Bonsoir, mes ami(e)s.
While I agree with some of what you are saying, many former Muslim women have different ideas of what the burka, veil and such means. Some see it as oppression of women.
http://maryamnamazie.com/to-ban-or-not-to-ban-the-burka/
The veil is not per se oppression of women; it’s just a piece of fabric, when all’s said (and probably better suited to dusty, windy, sun-burnt desert climes than going bare-faced, but that’s another issue). It’s not a literal ceiling on the brain. What IS oppression is men telling women what to wear, or not to wear. And men telling them to stay away from public spaces because they are women (or the “wrong” kind of women) is a greater oppression than anything else. Because dress codes are all inherently sexist, whether they’re conservative or, in France’s case, “liberal”.
(I hope you don’t think I’m jumping down your throat here, as that’s not the intent. I’m just pointing out that it’s not “liberation” when there’s an element of policing and force involved.)