It seems to be the summer of bans in France. In June, we had Nicholas Sarkozy’s proposed ban of the burka. Now, a 35-year-old Muslim woman, identified as Carole, has been banned from a public pool in Emerainville, an eastern suburb of Paris, for wearing a burkini. Perhaps the French don’t like words that begin with “burk”? Oh no wait, they just don’t like Muslims. But how are they masking it this time?
Emerainville Mayor Alain Kelyor told Le Parisien, “This has nothing to do with Islam because the pool rules prohibit swimming while dressed. Besides, Islamic bathing suits don’t exist in the Koran.” Right, but the bikini exists in the French Constitution.
District swimming pool director, Yannick Decompois, also claimed the burkini ban was put in place because of hygiene issues. “This has nothing to do with secularism, but is a simply a hygiene problem. For the same reasons men are also banned from wearing shorts,” he said. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the burkini being a hygiene problem. If your skin is covered, wouldn’t that mean you are not sharing your germs with other people nor are you getting their germs? Am I missing something? Maybe they meant it was a safety issue. But that can’t be because the burkini is made from the same fabric as bathing suits so there are no flotation problems.
Carole seems to think the burkini ban is a part of France’s “political problems” and I have to agree with her. Just look at the words of Andre Gerin, Communist MP and the man heading up parliamentary commission looking to ban the burka. When asked by Le Parisien about the burkini, he said he believed it was a “militant provocation,” adding, “There is a political and militant project behind this outfit - perhaps even gurus who are whispering to her to play the victim and publicize her complaint.”
Mr. Gerin, modesty does not equal fundamentalism, and even if it did, changing someone’s appearance has nothing to do with changing their mindset. Besides, do you really think militant Islamists or fundamentalists want women in a burkini or anywhere near a pool? I doubt it.
It is clear that the burka and burkini bans are not issues of fundamentalism at all, but are really an issue of fighting Islam by using women’s bodies as the battleground. The French government should realize that continuing to marginalize an entire population of people based on their faith are only giving fundamentalists more street cred as people grow angrier over their status as second class citizens.
Hear that Sarkozy? Because honestly, I’m starting to think all these bans are being put in place so that you can have an easier time doing this. Le sigh. Modesty just keeps getting in the way of your wandering eyes.
Comments
Ugh Sarkozy is disgusting, as is all of this hype. I wonder if it they’d have reacted differently if a young woman who wasn’t wearing hijab tried to step into a public pool with, say, leggings and a t-shirt, a bikini-alternative that a lot of Muslim women here wear.
My body is a wonderland, not a battleground!
By arrr.m. on 08/29/2009 at 08:26pm Report Abuse
I disagree that “the French don’t like Muslims.” I think the French attitude towards Muslims and Islam is varied, and quite diverse. And what its policy seeks to enforce is less “Anti-Islam” than it is “Pro-French,” in the sense that, as it was explained to me, one is seen to be “French first” and then whatever else later. It is very different from the American point of view where one is American and can by many other hyphenates at the same time. While I don’t defend Sarkozy and his/the French publics decision, I do defend their right to have a choice. After all, in Saudi women are required to wear a certain dress as well, and it is seen as disrespectful/unpatriotic/insolent to wear anything else. One could argue the French are doing the same, just in a different uniform.
By FareedaNYC on 09/09/2009 at 11:22am Report Abuse
You’re right; the French attitude toward Islam is definitely varied, but when I said French in that sentence, I was referring to the overall impression given off by their government. In an effort to “preserve” what it means to be French, there is a heavy amount of discrimination against immigrants (and by that, mostly North African immigrants who are Muslim) who aren’t conforming to this very rigid, and I would say racist, definition of a French citizen.
Also, I don’t think Saudi Arabia is comparable to France in this case. Saudis aren’t telling women to wear abayas because it makes them Saudi. However, the French are saying that to be French, you must take off your hijab.
And one last thought: French laicite means that religion is not allowed in government and government is not allowed in religion, but I would say that this policy is only enforced one way. Otherwise, Sarkozy and members of Parliament wouldn’t be able to question whether the burqa is an authentic religious practice.
By Sara E. on 09/27/2009 at 09:55pm Report Abuse