Muslim women locked in a tyrannical chokehold by Muslim men can rest easy. French President Nicolas Sarkozy is ready to rescue us.
In a breathtaking moment of hubris, Sarkozy in a speech to France's Parliament said there is no place for the burqa in France.
"In our country, we cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity," Sarkozy said. "The burqa is not a religious sign, it's a sign of subservience, a sign of debasement -- I want to say it solemnly. It will not be welcome on the territory of the French Republic."
For the record, I wear the abaya and niqab in Saudi Arabia. I wear the abaya and niqab because it's my choice. Contrary to popular Western myth, the abaya is not forced on women in Saudi Arabia. As an Islamic country, women are only required to cover the details of their body. While I am living abroad I wear a different style and color hijab that is conducive to the environment I live in. I choose not to wear the common black abaya in the United Kingdom for my own personal reasons that are nobody's business but my own. But if I ever decide to put on the abaya and niqab the way I do in Saudi Arabia that also is my own business.
Sarkozy is echoing what many French lawmakers have been demanding the past few years. They want to create a commission to examine the possibility of a full-scale burqa ban. The issue is divisive as some lawmakers say it will create tensions between France's Muslim population of 5 million people and non-Muslims.
Sarkozy provides us with yet another example of how Western nations define human rights and the oppression of women. It's assumed that if a woman is wearing the burqa, it is forced on her. Because, really, who in their right mind would wear such a thing?
But in Saudi culture the abaya is part of our identity, an identity that most of us happily embrace. Young Saudi girls often emulate their mothers and older sisters by wearing the abaya before they even hit puberty. This differs little from young Western girls who wear their mothers' clothing and high heels.
Although there are certainly cases in which women are forced to wear the burqa or abaya, the majority do so because they want to. The French government will be faced with the task of how to determine who embraces the burqa and who is forced to wear one. It appears, however, that France is willing to consider the easy route by simply banning it all together rather than bother itself with considering what Muslim women want.
There seems to be the misconception that wearing the burqa excludes women from participating in French society. Somehow the burqa prevents women from asking the clerk at the grocery store what's on sale, having parent-teacher conferences at their kid's school, or running for municipal office.
What the French government is demanding is that Muslim women become active members of society under the government's rules. Rules that apparently don't apply to Hasidic Jews or Catholic school girls forced to wear pleated skirts and knee-high socks. These forms of cultural and religious dress are acceptable by Western standards, yet Muslims are excluded from the club.
By imposing a dress code the government sets the parameters of social etiquette. In effect, by mandating a dress code the French government excludes many Muslim women from society. Muslim women who believe it's their right to wear the burqa simply will not leave their homes. They will not engage the grocer and their kid's teacher. They will not run for public office. The oppression will not come from their culture or religion, but the French Republic.
What is lost in the hubbub of public debate over this cockamamie burqa ban proposal is that we allow our civil liberties to slowly erode. In 2004, the hijab, along with other religious symbols, were banned in France's public institutions. Today the French take another step by considering banning yet another piece of clothing. Tomorrow? Will the French see the Islamic requirement of praying five times a day a sign of oppression and implement a ban? Will it decide that Hasidic Jewish women's scarves and conservative dress required by Jewish law is oppressive? Where do they draw the line between oppression and freedom?
The Muslim community has always viewed France as friendly and tolerant. Now France's Muslims find themselves more marginalized than ever as the West continues to determine what is best for them. France should know better. There are many French citizens alive today who remember when one segment of French society was once ostracized, had its religious and cultural symbols stolen or destroyed, denied the right to worship or wear clothing that identified their religion, and ultimately put to death. It seems that France is on the path to revisit that part of their history.
Jehan S. Harney: Should the French Veil Ban Concern the West?
In order for us to win the battle against radical Islam we must not compromise our values as a result of few militant Muslims' manipulation of religion or use of the burqa and niqab as a cover to commit crimes.
Education is the answer, be freed of the religious constraints put forth by ANY religion. There is no god, no prophets, no santa.
......Wake up to the 21st Century.
She is speaking for herself, you just don't agree with what she's saying. There is nothing more obnoxious than one group (usually but not exclusively Westerners) telling another group (usually but not exclusively Muslims) what to do for their own good.
Then why there is such a hue and cry if France FORCES women to uncover the details of her body???
Why can't you digest it???????????????????????????
there is a kind of hijab that veils the mind not just the body. it makes people unable to see the larger picture. i say remove both mental and bodily hijabs.
listen, i am a student of postcolonialism and such but truth must be said. the west has accomodated minorities in ways that muslim society in which minorities have existed before there were even muslims are not able to do (Egypt for example) for long there has been a prayer room in airports in Paris and such, we do not provide equal respect to those who are non-believers.
long story short. i think to demand that french society must accept the burqa is unacceptable my mother does not wear a hijab and that doesn't maker her any less of a muslim than you are. and many girls who do wear the hijab only do it because of social pressure.. it was never about outter appearance and it should never be. salam!
Ok. And in Western culture the burqa shroud is Not part of identity and we do NOT embrace it. Not at all.
We find face covering a thing that shocks our sensibilities. Why not show some cultural sensitivity to European country you live and or visit. Please don't wear it when in Paris... Especially because it's your personal choice, right?
Of course, you're also protesting against to lengthy list of clothing and behavior requirements Western women are subjected to in Saudi Arabia, right?
the head scarf is only a part of the hijab "modest dress". if a woman wears a scarf but wears tight or see through attire, it's not hijab. if the front or side of her hair is showing, that is not hijab. you can tell how seriously religious a woman is by how correctly she wears her hijab.
women who wear veils/burkas say it empowers them coz "they become the observers, not the observed." they don't want men even seeing their faces. however, i noticed that most women like this are usually housewives or work in "female interaction only" careers; a teacher in a female school. they take it off upon entry and put it back on when its time to go out in the street again. they are a minority (%5--%10) among muslim women except in iran, saudia arabia and parts of the arabian gulf where it has become a part of the culture. if a burqa wearing woman is denied that right she will imprison herself at home, such is her belief that she cannot expose her face. it would be cruel to isolate them from society like this.
It's not surprising, however: the notion of systematic oppression is a dangerous concept for a religion to allow into the minds of its followers, as they might get wise to how the mechanisms of "Sunday School" and institutionalized privilege work and protest.
It boils down to a society ruling by fiat what is appropriate to wear and what is not (ironically, on both sides). I don't know about you, but I think that is a step backward not forward.
While it may be impossible to see things from the perspective of people from a different culture, we can at least acknowledge that the perspective may be different and is valid.
I thank dog that I live in a country that espouses those liberties because we have seen the result of atheist indoctrination in the former Soviet Union (CCCP). It is a total failure.
It is best to let every individual choose for themselves how they want to live. Yes, I get it that people are coerced and indoctrinated like I was as an innocent child. I grew up and took responsibility for my own thoughts and actions like any mature adult should, including WOMEN.
Believe it or not, I think brains are included with the manufacture of each woman. That is why most Americans support a woman's right to choose even if they personally disagree with the decision of abortion.
It is their body and their life. Let them make their own choice, or are women too stupid or weak and fragile to do so?