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My Veil, My Identity

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This paper is about France’s issue with women wearing the veil in public. French people justify wanting to ban the veil by saying that it affects their identity, is threatening, and stands for oppression of women. A lot of statistics are used to prove that what they are claiming is incorrect. I will also be supporting my argument with stories of women who are affected already from credible sources like books. As a woman who wears the veil, I want people to think about the impact that this ban can have on women like me. Even though I do not live in France, countries around France are beginning to act similarly, and so sooner or later it will affect me and the women around me.

“In our country, we cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity,” he said to rolling applause. “The burqa is not a religious sign, it’s a sign of subservience, a sign of debasement – I want to say it solemnly: It will not be welcome on the territory of the French Republic” (“Sarkozy speaks out against burka”, 2009) is what French president Nicholas Sarkozy said on March 2004, according to BBC News. What happens if the ban is applied is that women who are seen wearing the veil in public will be fined 15o euros (£119). 30,000 euros and a one-year sentence to jail will befall men who force their women to wear the veil (“French Senate Votes to Ban Islamic Veil in Public”, 2010). The word people use to describe the veil differs from a group to another. Muslim women in France refer to it as Hijab, French refer to it as foulard, English refer to it as headscarf, and the media refers to it as veil (voile). The veil itself has no meaning, since it is just a piece of cloth, just like a shirt or a trouser. It is the symbolic meaning that matters. Since 2004, France has become known for targeting Muslim women wearing the veil because it believes that the veil affects its natives’ identity and culture. In short, a piece of cloth threatens the French society. Because of all the issues going around the world, people shouldn’t easily believe whatever political figures and media are feeding them. France should not ban the veil, as it is different, but not threatening. Whether a woman in France is wearing the veil or not does not affect the people’s individuality or identity.
According to Gemie (2010), “Alima Boumedienne-Theiry, a French Green euro-deputy, gave a speech to the European parliament in 2004, which included one of the most complete lists of the varied terms used to describe such people. She referred to a population that has been classified as “natives, foreign workers, immigrants, descendants of immigration, French Arabs, North Africans and – today – Muslims and, according to some, potential terrorists.”” (p.10). She talks about Africans, immigrants, workers, and Muslims. She could have easily said Arab or stated the country they are from. Why did she mention Muslims? Why did she use the religious term? That’s probably because the term is loosely used in French media. These events (attacking the veil) started in 1989 when three Muslim girls refused to take off their veils and were expelled from middle school. Then in 1994, a gym teacher claimed that the veil was rather dangerous in class. After that, in 2003, the minister of interior (at that time), Nicolas Sarkozy, insisted that Muslim women take off their headscarves for the official identity pictures. He claimed that he was concerned over his people because of what happened in the attacks of September 11 in the U.S (Scott, 2007, p.30). Around the same time, in a small school in Nice, girls who wore hijab were excluded of entering the school and studying (Scott, 2007, p.23) French people believed that the girls were threatening because of what President Sarkozy said. The girls did not add up to 1000, and they were threatening the whole French society by wearing the hijab, a piece of cloth. As a result, veil-wearing school girls were banned in 2004. (Gemie, 2010, p.2) When people think of France, they immediately think of high-end retail stores on Champs-Elysees, delicious baguettes, Napoleon Bonaparte, Eiffel tower, the Monalisa, etc. People would not think of the Veil as a part of France’s identity. People may think that Islam questions the very identity of France, while others might think that it is a sign of difference between cultures. First and foremost, France was actually shaped by immigrants (R. Bowen, 2009, p.15). Every immigrant has something to add to the country, but the veil is the only thing that is revolting and affecting the identity. Also, veils are not the only the visible sign of diversity that come with religious Muslims. Men can have distinctive food preferences, appearance, like long beards and loose attire; and conduct, like prayers (Scott, 2007, p.4). Are all of these differences not considered threatening? I am not saying that they are threatening, just that they are indeed signs of differences. France chooses a piece of cloth to be threatening its whole republic. Moreover, before the law was passed, only 14% of Muslim women in France wore the Hijab. 51% declared that they practiced their religion (Scott, 2007, p.3). In other words, most of Muslim women “fit in”. So, even if Muslim women wear the veil, it does not take from France’s identity nor does it affect it. However, by preventing Muslim women from wearing the veil, it takes away the symbol of Muslim identity.
A lot of people may believe that wearing Hijab/veil is threatening (in a terrorist-related way) and consider it as an aggressive act. The media’s image of Arabs and Muslims in general are to blame. The news constantly shows Muslims as terrible terrorists who kill anyone within reach. The Muslims the news show usually are not real Muslims. They hide behind Islam and twist it to their own benefit. Islam does not call for war or bloodshed; on the contrary, it calls for peace. The word “Islam” comes from the root “Salaam”, which means peace. The acts of terrorism are NOT what The Quran or Islam teaches us. Sadly, groups like Taliban and Al-Qaida and other so-called “Muslim” extremists represent Islam and portray a bad image of it. That is why the west fear Muslims and view them for what they are not, monsters. In the previous example I gave, I talked about schoolgirls being banned from going to school because of their hijab. How can mere schoolgirls (which were less than 1000) threaten the whole republic? Were they terrorists? Even if the whole nation believed that the girls were terrorists, there wasn’t any proof that their act was threatening. The contradictions that lay in French people’s belief about the veil are that: First, Marianne, the symbol of the French republic, is always depicted with her hair covered (Gemie, 2010, p.18). Why is Marianne not a threat and Muslim women are? If people view Marianne from French belief that the veil is threatening, then Marianne should be considered a terrorist, not only Muslim women with veils. Second, are veil-wearing Catholic nuns considered aggressive? Again, nuns cover their hair, but why are the Nuns not targeted? France specifically targets Muslim women. The whole issue with banning the veil is pointless because less than 2,000 women in France wear the face veil. That is 0.1 percent of the two million adult Muslim women in France. That's 0.003 percent of the French population as a whole (Gemie, 2010, p.46). That is a pretty small number to be worried about. Nevertheless, people still believe that veils are threatening. Exactly how many thefts, how many suicide bombings, or how many terrorist attacks have featured the face veil? Are there any statistics to prove that they actually is related? If people look at this issue in a deeper way, they will find out that this alleged reason behind wanting to ban the veil is all just a myth. There is a certain concept of freedom that has a lot to do with the west. French people are with banning the veil because they have always feared slavery and oppression; however, they do not see the fact that the veil does not harm them or who wears it in any way.
The law itself is self-defeating, because all it does is alienate an alienated Muslim minority in France. It urges young women in France to act rebelliously and break the law and actually be different. What happens when there is an alienated group of people is that others start to not know who those people are. When people do not know who these other bunch of individuals are, they start to fear them; since it is rather normal to fear the unknown. Logically, as soon as fear grows in people’s hearts, they will start to fear whatever actions the alienated group starts to do. As a cause of alienation and banning veils in schools, one can assume that Muslims will start to open their own schools; which will lead to even more alienation. A twelve-year old veiled girl said, according to Gemie (2010), “Last year, I was attacked by three men outside the school who spat on my face, hit me, and insulted me. At school, they tell us that we are weak-minded and manipulated.” (p.33). It is rather heartbreaking to know that a mere twelve-year old girl was bullied, maybe still is, in this horrendous manner. What did she do to deserve being spat on, hit, and insulted? Wearing the veil is not an act of aggression, it’s a choice; however, hitting a twelve-year old girl and spitting on her is. If random people were to decide who the terrorists really are, in this case, it will surely be the three men!
The most known reason that makes people stand against the veil is supposedly because it stands for the oppression of women. This is contradiction-filled statement. If the banning of the veil prevents oppression of women in French public, then we must ask the following question: Are there women who willingly wear the veil in French society? There is no proof that this is not the case, therefore we can rationally assume that there are women who agreeably wear the veil. Besides, once the president gave his speech about banning the veil, women started to protest against it. However, prohibiting these women from wearing the veil fits the definition of oppression. For what is oppression, other than, taking away the freedom of doing something from someone? Therefore the law, by preventing oppression, causes oppression. Whether you like the veil or not, the French ban violates a person’s freedom of thought, appearance, and religion. It violates a whole sequence of essential human rights. Restricting a woman's freedom to wear the face veil in public is as much a violation of her human rights as it is to force her to wear that same face veil. Gender inequality seems limited to Muslims and does not include German or Dutch practices that also include the subservience of women. It is as if oppressing women were uniquely an Islamic phenomenon! In the words of Gemie (2010), “As the veil-wearing Fatima, from Saint-Denis, notes: “if my veil is a “symbol of oppression”, am I then supposed to conclude that I am oppressing myself?”” (p.40). Can a person really oppress him/herself? Fatima wears the veil because she wants to wear it, yet the law will not allow her to wear it. The same law that is supposed to liberate her will oppress her.
A Pakistani woman named Fatima asked in Doha Debate’s “This House believes France is right to ban the face veil”: “Hello. I just wanted to ask this question for Mr. Jacques or the speakers who are speaking for the motion. How will the French law that bans the face veil differentiate between these two people (points to two people standing next to her, one in a medical mask and one in a niqab)- one person here just wears a surgical mask for fear of getting a disease, catching a disease, and the woman here who is wearing the niqab, who would you fine the 120 Euros?” (2010) Really, that was a very thought-provoking question. The identity of the man in the mask did not change because a veiled woman was sitting beside him. What I am trying to say is that whether a woman sitting beside you is wearing a veil or not, doesn’t change your identity. You are who you are. People should understand that instead of penalizing other people for their differences, they should try to live as one. I am not asking everyone to pack his or her bags and move to utopia, because there is no utopia. It will take time and it will take a lot of patience and effort, but people should keep on trying to understand the individuality of one another. People should strive to value each other. There is no need for people to talk to each other, just value the existence of others. Why don’t we try to look at differences between people as a merit? There are more important things in life. People are starving, fighting, and dying. Life is too short to fight over trivial things like who wears the niqab and who doesn’t.

References
Bowen, J. R., (2010). Can Islam be French? Princeton: Princeton University Press.
French Senate Votes to Ban Islamic Full Veil in Public. (2010). BBC News. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11305033
Gemie, S., (2010). French Muslims: New Voices in Contemporary France. Cardiff : University of Wales Press.
Sarkozy Speaks out Against Burka. (2009). BBC News. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8112821.stm
Scott, J. W., (2007). The Politics of the Veil. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
This House believes France is right to ban the face veil. (2010). The Doha Debates. Retrieved from http://www.thedohadebates.com/debates/debate.asp?d=81&s=7&mode=transcript

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