By The petty fashion police in Nice, France were out in full force on Tuesday, slapping Muslim women wearing Muslim-esque clothes with fines and even forcing one woman to remove her garments in public to show more skin.
Four Nice policemen forced a Muslim woman in Nice wearing something akin to a burkini to remove it, in public, on the beach. As one Twitter user acutely commented, it’s like the “inverse Taliban” in action.
The policemen, armed with batons and pepper spray no less, approached the lounging middle-aged woman on the Promenade de Anglais who was wearing a blue headwrap, matching tunic, and black leggings.
It’s unclear from the now-viral photograph just how much the sister had to strip down in order to appease the group of officers who surrounded her.
She was reportedly mere yards away from where a crazed, supposedly Muslim truck driver pummeled into a crowd this past Bastille Day.
It’s unclear from the now-viral photograph just how much the sister had to strip down in order to appease the group of officers who surrounded her. But, since she violated the recently enacted “burkini ban,” she was fined and required to remove some of the very clothes she was wearing for the sake of modesty.
From the photographs of her, it appears that she was wearing her scarf turban-style, exposing her neck.
It may sound trite or even misogynistic for me to mention that fact, but it’s not be missed that these French municipalities were the first ones to split hairs over fashion.
And, it is fashion full stop – be it “modest” or “immodest” depending on your own personal spectrum of what wearing hijab and being modest means to you.
The clothing that a person wears is a choice, is a performance, is inextricably linked to the plastic world in which we live. It’s all fashion, despite what French premier Manuel Valls claims it to be. (hint: a symbol “of the enslavement of women.”)
Nevermind that her “burkini”– which it technically was not — was also protecting her skin from sun damage. Nevermind that her clothing was basically skin-tight exposing her curves anyway. Nevermind the freedom of expression, freedom of religion, or just your plain basic “freedoms” on which the western European country prides itself.
France, by the way, outlawed wearing niqab in 2011. Freedom of expression, religion, has been under fire in the country for years.
The clothing that a person wears is a choice, is a performance, is inextricably linked to the plastic world in which we live. It’s all fashion, despite what French premier Manuel Valls claims it to be.
Frankly, when I first saw the photograph of the sister on the Promenade de Anglais in the midst of taking off her over-shirt in front of ogling beachgoers and surrounded by officers, I was speechless.
We could complain how it’s a symptom of deep-rooted Islamophobia caused by outdated French colonial fantasies. Easily, we could. We do, and that’s worthwhile, but it’s not always healthy to respond with more anger.
Instead, could I suggest reading and reflecting on the Surah Al-Hadid? For me, it offers a valuable reflection upon this notion that our physically manifested lives are based on falsehoods, and can bring solace when faced with the world’s nonsense.
Surah Al-Hadid reads, “Know that the life of this world is only play and amusement, pomp and mutual boasting among you, and rivalry in respect of wealth and children, as the likeness of vegetation after rain, thereof the growth is pleasing to the tiller; afterwards it dries up and you see it turning yellow; then it becomes straw. But in the Hereafter (there is) a severe torment (for the disbelievers, evil-doers), and (there is) Forgiveness from Allah and (His) Good Pleasure (for the believers, good-doers), whereas the life of this world is only a deceiving enjoyment.” [57:20]
Yes, the sister had to remove clothes in public. It was the law and she may not have been aware of it or maybe she was, but the law is the law and we are not above it.
Instead, we can roll with it and adapt, no matter how infuriating a situation may be.
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Written by Carol Nisar.
“We could complain how it’s a symptom of deep-rooted Islamophobia caused by outdated French colonial fantasies. Easily, we could. We do, and that’s worthwhile, but it’s not always healthy to respond with more anger.”
Or, more likely, a symptom of the fact that this woman in Islamic garb was “mere yards” away from where a Muslim ran over 80 French people, including children and babies. The clothing-policing is undemocratic and wrong, but don’t try to pretend that France’s anger is totally unjustified or based on some ingrained cultural desire to dominate Muslims. Seriously, I read these articles and it leaves me wondering if you people are living on the same planet as the rest of us. Multiple horrific large scale attacks on French soil in the past two years, and you’re talking about ‘outdated French colonial fantasies’ and ‘deep-rooted Islamaphobia’ . Unbelievable. Talk about adding insult to injury.
sometimes i cant belive how dumb yall are okay, first off this is complete and utter bull, most murders are done by christians, so if i see a nun, does that give me the right to tell her to fit into society and rip off her clothes?
tell me, if someone in your family kills someone, should we not trust you and throw you into jail? and imagine, she has litterally no connection to those people, so like how is she (besides being a INNOCENT muslim) have even a ounce of an association with that criminal you are talking about? IT is completly unjustified.
another example, black lives matter.the etire campagine is proof that if a precentage of a group does something, that doesnt mean the rest should suffer.
I said the clothing-policing was wrong. I’m not defending what the police are doing. I’m saying that the reason that the French are upset with the Muslims is specifically these large-scale ideological terrorist attacks, What I’m objecting to is the writer’s claim that this anger stems from the fact that the French people are racist meanies who just hate Islam for no good reason. And it’s not especially impressive that most murders are done by Christians in the West, given that most people in the West at least nominally identify as Christian. In the Mideast most murders are committed by Muslims.
So basically what Lemuel?…The French are so sensitive by the truck driving terrorist that they are traumatised by a visibly Muslim women sitting next to them? That they need to punish innocent Muslim women for the crimes of someone else because they are all guilty by association? You can’t punish the terrorists so pick on defenceless women? The fact that people surrounded her and began to torment her with racist insults is evidence that there is Islamophobia in French society. And yes France is guilty of outdated French colonial fantasies. Don’t believe me? Go ask yourself what France is still doing in Africa & ME involving itself in those continent’s politics. “You people” are clearly burying your heads in the sand. French arabs have complained for decades about discrimination and marginalisation of its people but clearly we are not living on the same planet because you don’t believe there were any problems before Nice or any other terror attacks. You can’t have it both ways… if you want to be seen as a democracy you need to respect a woman’s right to dress as she pleases regardless of how much it may offend you. Remember that “right to offend” rules when Muslims got riled up over the cartoons? The fact is that France like most European countries suffer from a white man’s burden complex. If you don’t believe me, please refer to the statements from supporters of the ban who claim they want to free Muslim women from the oppressive hijab. So yes this about domination.