France has a deep-rooted tradition of secularism, making the wearing of religious symbols in public spaces controversial.
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It covers the whole body except the face, the hands and the feet, whilst being light enough to enable swimming.
Every major newspaper has now covered the story of yet another ban targeting French Muslim women.
Local mayors cite multiple reasons for their burkini bans, including the difficulty of rescuing bathers wearing a large amount of clothing.
In an interview with Le Parisien, Socialist Party Minister for Family, Children and Women’s Rights Laurence Rossignol, defended the ban and said the burkini’s goal is “to hide women’s bodies in order to better control them”.
‘That is not compatible with the values of France, ‘ Valls said. “Faced with provocations, the Republic must defend itself”, he adds. Earlier this year, a government minister criticized leading fashion labels for including Islamic dress items in their collections, accusing them of colluding in the “imprisonment of women’s bodies”. As the Washington Post’s Kathleen Parker wrote, some “feminists and the “enlightened” French see the burkini as a visual face-slap to women’s egalité“. It can not be considered only as a question of fashion or individual liberty, ‘ Laurence Rossignol said.
Valls did not, however, state that he supported a nationwide burkini ban because, according to him, “overall regulations on proscribing clothes can not be a solution”.
“I support those who have taken measures”.
Valls backed the ban on burkinis saying he encouraged people “to live together and not with ulterior political motives”. “General rules on clothing restrictions can not be a solution”. Islamic headscarves are banned from French schools and niqabs (full-face veils) and burkas (full-body veils) can not be worn in public.
Beyond France’s shores the bans, which one mayor sought to pass off on hygiene grounds, have been widely ridiculed.
Last weekend, youths on a beach on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica came to blows with a group of Muslim families, reportedly after a tourist snapped pictures of women bathing in burkinis.
Rim-Sarah Alouane, a researcher at the University of Toulouse who has written on Muslim and women’s issues, vigorously disagrees.
In that same interview, Manuel Valls supports Chevenement, tipped to the Foundation’s management to Islam in France and who advised Monday to Muslims “discretion”, sparking a backlash within the Muslim community.
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PARIS (AP) Male officials are dictating what women can wear on French beaches and people across a wide swath of French society say that’s a good thing. This is about collectively punishing Muslims – who have the highest number of casualties from ISIS, mind you – for the actions of barbaric individuals who have perverted their faith. News stories displayed here appear in our category for worldwide and are licensed via a specific agreement between LongIsland.com and The Associated Press, the world’s oldest and largest news organization. For the protection of AP and its licensors, content may not be copied, altered or redistributed in any form.
