Let’s get something straight. If someone else — man or woman — forces you to dress a certain way, he or she is infringing on your basic human rights and civil liberties. If someone forces you not to dress a certain way, they’re doing the same exact thing.
This is pretty basic ethics. Not very complicated stuff.
Are you listening, France?
Last week, a French parliamentary report recommended a ban in public buildings on veils that cover the face. The ban would affect Muslim women who wear the niqab, a veil that covers the entire face, leaving only the eyes uncovered. Burqas, garments that cover a woman’s entire body as well as her face, have also been a target of disdain and criticism.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has spoken out in the past about his distaste for the burqa, telling the French parliament last summer, “The burqa is not a sign of religion, it is a sign of subservience,” adding that it “will not be welcome.”
I’m pretty sure the burqa is a sign of religion, since only fundamentalist Muslim groups require women to wear it.
And I don’t think women wear the burqa for the trendiness or social acceptability of it — especially not in France.
I don’t deny that women who are forced to wear the burqa against their wishes are being oppressed and treated inhumanely. The burqa is a cringe-worthy symbol of misogyny — its shape obliterates any semblance of the individual woman underneath, and implies that women are inferior to men (who don’t have to wear the burqa) and that they are offensive to even look at.
But it should be up to the woman inside the burqa to choose if she will wear it and why.
Forcing women to not wear the burqa — or refusing service in public areas if they do wear the burqa — is as oppressive as forcing them to wear it in the first place.
Women, and people in general, should be treated with respect and valued as individuals regardless of their appearance — be that any physical feature like sex or race, or something as simple as dress.
What’s especially hilarious (and egregious) about this whole stupid debate in France is that it is being spearheaded by a bunch of rich, middle-aged, white, non-Muslim men.
That combination of heritage and experience is so far removed from that of a young Muslim woman who wears a veil. How could they ever expect to understand where these women are coming from?
They can’t. Rather than trying to comprehend the culture and values of Muslims, the government is making sweeping judgments to squash what it doesn’t understand.
This is yet another battle in Western culture’s cold war with Islam. This sort of intolerance and interference is why countries like France and the U.S. have bad reputations and relations in other parts of the world.
They don’t hate us for our freedom, they hate us for our ignorance.
I can identify with that. I hate stupid people, too. I unfriend them on Facebook and sit far, far away from them in class. That’s kind of what Muslim nations are trying to do with us. We’ve got intolerance cooties.
Western cultures have got to become more diplomatic and inclusive toward the Muslim world. Oppressing a culture that is already repressed to a breaking point is an ignorant, costly position.
Furthermore, a country like France that prides itself on progressive culture and philosophical thought should simply know better, and recognize its hypocrisy.
The French government should leave Muslim women alone and pick on someone its own size. Like Texas.
Sara Boyd is a 23-year-old general studies senior from Baton Rouge. Follow her on Twitter @tdr_sboyd.