France recently made the decision to ban the burkini on public beaches across the nation. For those of you who don’t know what a burkini is, it’s a swimming garb worn by Muslim women who wish to uphold tradition while spending time at the beach. The swimwear covers the entire body except the face, feet and hands.
France is no stranger to banning traditional Islamic attire. Within the past few years alone, several cities in the nation have passed bans on garments such as headscarves and other forms of face coverings. To those who argue this law might not seem as though it’s aimed at one demographic, keep in mind that these policies were put in place in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo and Paris terrorist attacks of January and November of 2015.
It has become all too obvious that the French government isn’t just playing fashion police at times coinciding with these incidents, but rather rendering daily life difficult for a specific group.
France has graciously given the world and the Islamic community explanations for its actions. They have exhausted every reason from “making security easier to maintain” to saying that they were “freeing women from the traditions of a patriarchal society.”
But as the more recent burkini ban shows us, these new policies are simply a physical manifestation of the mindset of Islamophobia. Consider this: this new policy comes after the attacks that occurred during the national French holiday of Bastille Day in the beachside city of Nice.
Now, if the burkini is banned, women who observe tradition won’t just throw on the nearest bikini and head out for a swim on the coast. In fact, they probably won’t be able to go to the beach at all.
The French have essentially banned a significant portion of their society from its shores.
This is no different from any of the internet videos of shop workers following minority customers throughout grocery stores in conservative parts of the United States, for no other reason than suspicion based in prejudice.
This fear that has France by the throat has truly altered its understanding of human rights. Even the fabricated explanation which the nation gives to justify its actions is no better than the truth itself.
If France truly wanted to help women break the chains of a patriarchal society, making them do so by force would be the antithesis of this goal.
What we see in France is simply another occurrence of a mindset all too popular in the world today. People see the Islamic faith as one of evil, sedition and murder because that is all they care to see.
I don’t go around spitting at every Christian because of the Crusades or the Spanish Inquisition because I am well aware that those choice flashes of history do not represent the religion or its practicioners as a whole.
Banning the burkini is a horrible choice and is no different from any other policy of segregation. It beats innocent people down and creates a sense of snobbery in those who have finally gotten “their” beaches back.
Islam is a peaceful faith and preaches the same method of good living that Christianity does. To condemn these people as a result of the actions of a few is a crime.
Is it really so bad to just go to the beach?
Jordan Marcell is a 19-year-old studio photography and linguistic antrhopology sophomore from Geismar, Louisiana.