I’ve been ignoring the European burqa ban. It’s fraught. Nonetheless, the issue marches on. Recent attention has focused on France.
French burka ban: police arrest two veiled women
French police arrested two veiled women this morning just hours after the country’s new ban on wearing the burka in public came into force.
The women were arrested along with several other people protesting in front of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris against the new law.
Jourrnalists at the scene said the arrests came after police moved in to break up the protest which had not been authorised.
On Saturday police arrested 59 people, including 19 veiled women, who turned up for a banned protest in Paris against the draconian new law, the first of its kind to be enforced in Europe.
Earlier, French police said they will be enforcing the country’s new burka ban “extremely cautiously” because of fears of provoking violence.
To start off, I think the covering is a repressive religious tactic to keep women under wraps and under control.
On the other hand, if I wanted to flaunt my stuff rocking a burqa (or anything else that covers my bits), why should the government stop me? Good on those protesters for their civil disobedience. (Something one hasn’t always seen from certain quarters.) We don’t want the law to be just another form of coercion, unless some better good is served, like the liberation of women from religious tyranny.
Which brings up a point: Burqa bans do not automatically lead to female emancipation. When the Shah of Iran banned it (I am told), many women were accustomed to it, and would never have appeared outside without it. So they just didn’t go outside. But that just shows that religious tyranny, when entrenched, creates unfortunate situations of moral conflict for believers.
If there is a principle behind the burqa ban, it could be worded like this: People should be allowed to wear what they want, free of coercion. Unfortunately, it’s not simple to tell what someone ‘wants’, or when someone is being coerced. People can report that they want things that they have been coerced into wanting. The fact that the burqa is associated with religion tells me that, ipso facto, there’s some coercion going on. I have no doubt that women who wear burqas will tell you they ‘want’ to wear it, just as Mormon women will happily tell you they don’t ‘want’ the priesthood.
So, let’s give both sides their due. I think forced burqa wearing is coercive, and I’ll even allow that government prohibition of the burqa is also coercive. Which leaves Muslim women caught in the unenviable middle.
(Notice that I’m not touching the ‘security risk’ side of the argument. I think it’s bullshit, like all security theatre.)
But even though I can’t stand ostentatiously religious and/or oppressive clothing, I’m reluctantly coming down against the burqa ban. Two things are pushing me. One: Legislating against the rights of minorities is a Very Bad Thing, and I can only think of a few things that would justify it. Harming bystanders or children would be two. These women are adults. Maybe they are in a coercive environment. Yes, that is messed up. I wish it weren’t so. But we can fight this in better ways than controlling how people dress. If they can be told what not to wear, I can be told what not to wear. Will I be told not to wear my patently offensive ‘Gay Jesus’ t-shirt? Come on.
Two: The law also gives right-wing jerks the ability to push minorities around. Forget that.
What do you think? I’m still convincible.
UPDATE: A good bit, this.
16 April 2011 at 3:41 pm
As much as my bias makes me want to agree with France, I think that banning veils in public is wrong on so many levels.
That said, I would like to offer a challenge on which argument is the bullshit one:
My first reaction to the security argument was identical to yours. Yet, after contemplating it a bit, I think it's more complicated — especially when it comes to a full burqa. People do (and should) have the right to obscure their identity in public. Yet people rarely do it without a compelling reason. One example I've heard is "in Minnesota, in Winter, people go around in ski-masks, and nobody thinks anything of it." Well, yes, but when the weather is cold enough to wear a ski-mask all the time, then people don't stay outside any longer than they have to, and the second they walk into a crowded public place (inside), they take it off. When you have half the population walking around habitually completely concealed (so it's no longer something unusual), I can see some potential dangers. The argument may still not be sufficient for justifying the ban, but I wouldn't dismiss it out-of-hand as pure bullshit.
OTOH — women will just stay inside if they can't wear a veil? That's where we're wandering into bullshit territory. Life goes on, and for most people, simply never leaving the house is not a realistic option. For every family that has enough servants that they can afford to keep the lady of the house under house arrest 24/7 (voluntary or not), there are a whole lot of others for whom it's not an option, who will simply adapt to what is required of them. And many of those almost certainly include women who would prefer not to wear the veil and are happy enough to have a legitimate excuse to tell their male relatives.
16 April 2011 at 4:22 pm
Oh so Francais…
I once caused a silence in a Feminist Theory honours seminar by arguing (with an Islamic woman present) that the West seems to pick on Moslem women's attire, as if it were the real culprit for EVERYTHING. Why don't we clean up out own backyard first, was my thought, and comment at the time. Perhaps the class was thinking about it…
The Islamic woman in the class was very progressive; she took her religion seriously, though, and although she had worn full covering in the past (just short of a burka) only wore the veil at the time, and clearly questioned it from a liberal point of view, anyway.
I say the burka will go in time, as cultures evolve (big assumption there). However, on the other hand, you can't deny a person's right to wear what they like. Against these opposites – gotta love the way the French are so progressive on issues – and I actually support them in their policy stance, despite the philosophical dilemmas.
17 April 2011 at 12:52 am
The "coercion" is a hard question. Is an indoctrinated Muslim woman really exercising her "free conscience" when she wears a burqa?
I'm inclined to think not. But we're all indoctrinated into various beliefs to varying degrees. How do we draw the line if only adults are involved? How do we judge (and who are we to say) when indoctrination has gone too far?
I don't know the answers. But I will say that if I'm going to err, I'd rather err on the side of freedom than on the side of control. So — as long as we're talking about adults — I say let people wear what they want.
17 April 2011 at 12:18 pm
Initially I thought it was a bad idea then after listening to a few of my French friends I lean the other way. One friend said –
"Actually, because France has long had cultural policies that are more clear about the kind of republic it wants to be (separation of church and state, for instance), surveys of French muslims do not reveal much opposition. This surprises those of us in the less culturally acute, English-speaking world."
There's also an interesting discussion about it on Amnesty International's fb page.http://www.facebook.com/AmnestyOz/posts/10150542750315632
I tend to also agree with Kuri that the women are most likely wearing the veil out of coercion and the law may give them the freedom to break away from the tradition. I hope.
Anyway, all I did was just give you other peoples opinions so I'm not much help. I lean towards supporting France on this one but like you I could be swayed 😉
19 May 2011 at 7:08 pm
I just want the gay Jesus T. I'd rock that downtown Spokane. 🙂