Modest Dress

A friend writes:

I suppose the Republicans will find some angle to bitch about the French over this too...

What is this about?:

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has spoken out strongly against the wearing of the burka by Muslim women in France.

..."We cannot accept to have in our country women who are prisoners behind netting, cut off from all social life, deprived of identity," Mr Sarkozy told a special session of parliament in Versailles.

"That is not the idea that the French republic has of women's dignity.

"The burka is not a sign of religion, it is a sign of subservience. It will not be welcome on the territory of the French republic," the French president said.

But he stressed that France "must not fight the wrong battle", saying that "the Muslim religion must be respected as much as other religions" in the country.

...In 2004, France banned the Islamic headscarf and other conspicuous religious symbols from public schools, triggering heated debate in the country and abroad.

...The immigration minister, Eric Besson, has said a full ban will only "create tensions" while the junior minister for human rights, Rama Yade, said she would accept a ban if it was aimed at protecting women forced to wear the burka.

..."To raise the subject like this, via a parliamentary committee, is a way of stigmatising Islam and the Muslims of France," said Mohammed Moussaoui, head of the French Council for the Muslim Religion.

France is home to about five million Muslims.

Actually, I’m not as hardline on burkas as the French seem to be (and I know it drives them crazy). If people want to wear distinct dress for religious reasons, I think that is their right, and not even the French can take it away from them. And I understand the point the French (and other folks too, like the secular Turks) are trying to make with their anti-burka message – it’s just that I think they are overreaching. People have loyalties to religions, cultures, and families, and if they want to sacrifice what some people call dignity (and what they might call pride) on behalf of those things, then they should be allowed to do so. But should they want to do without burkas, they have that right too (which is where I suppose the trouble really starts).

I remember, on my one and only trip to the East Coast in 1978, watching an Amish family in full traditional dress negotiate the Philadelphia Greyhound bus station. The kids were a little freaked out by the stares, I think.

Earlier this year, a Muslim woman was in one of my aerobics classes. Trying to simultaneously maintain religious dignity while remaining comfortable during vigorous exercise is a challenge, but she seemed to manage OK, with loose-fitting modest clothing covering the legs and arms, plus a head scarf. And she didn’t seem oppressed or unnecessarily discomfited. (She hasn’t been around lately, though, and I worry about that).