On Thursday, Laurence Rossignol compared Muslim women who wear the headscarf to the “American negroes” who supported slavery. The French Minister for Women’s Rights’ statement was followed not long after by a similar claim by fashion designer and partner at Yves Saint Laurent, Pierre Berge. “We must teach (Muslim) women to revolt, to take their clothes off, to learn to live like most of the women in the rest of the world,” he said, as a way of denunciating hijab-friendly clothing lines recently released by companies such as H&M and Dolce & Gabbana.
So I began to think. How could two educated and established public figures be so grossly incorrect about the second greatest religion in the world, over 5 million of whose adherents live in their own country?
Rossignol, ironically the founder of the SOS Racisme organization, works to “fight against discrimination and racism in France”. Yves Saint Laurent prides itself in the strides it has taken in the fashion industry, from introducing tuxedoes for women to incorporating the signatures of multiple cultures in its clothing lines.
In 2014, Berge’s philanthropic foundation hosted an exhibition in appreciation of the Moroccan culture that both Berge and Laurent were enthralled by. The exhibit, called The Berber Women of Morocco, flaunted loose, colorful clothing and long veils that covered everything except the face.
In 1959, the company received recognition for designing the Empress of Iran Farah Diba’s wedding gown. Not surprisingly, it was full sleeved, high-necked, and veiled, leaving only the face uncovered. Historically, the bridal veil has been a sign of modesty and source of reverence.
But ignorance has sunken its teeth so deeply into the 21st century that not only do controversial politicians brazenly spew unfounded claims, but so do those civil servants who proudly call themselves advocates of justice and progress. In order to validate her concern for the limited freedom of Muslim women which would be otherwise invalid, Rossignol argued,
“Of course there are women who choose it [hijab]. There were American negroes who were in favor of slavery.”
Tell me, what more will you say and do to feed your superiority complex?
Does our fearless political statement and independent thought that swims against the tide of “most of the women in the rest of the world” threaten your distorted perception of the female body that is so entrenched in the rotting culture of sexualization and objectification?
If your understanding of my freedom is having to take off my clothes for you, then I neither want to be liberated nor beautified. I will not be reduced to your standards of worth because I refuse to allow my strength and validity as a woman be defined by your objectification of my body. Do not attempt to strip me of my dignity just because you cannot find your own. I am more liberated and independent than your provincial and enslaved standards of beauty and freedom will ever be.
This is a brilliant piece! Definitely worth the share.
The Hijab is unquestionably misogyny, a direct manifestation of the draconian Islamic commandment of “modesty”. To claim otherwise is nonsense. In Islam, you are a temptress who must be forced to adhere to modest dress. It’s clearly intended as a measure of punishment; the hijab and all other female garments are typically fashioned from stifling black polyester, as opposed to the flowing white gauze and cotton that characterizes most male garments in the arid Muslim regions.
Additionally, nobody in the West is forcing you to remove your symbol of oppression; rather, they are issuing a valid critique of your stunningly simplistic worldview. Unlike you, these corporate and community activists actually care about the fate of women living under Islamic regimes.
In the Muslim world, women are institutionally forced to wear the Hijab, and the fact that you are protected from this mandate by the Western, secular institutions you despise does not mean that women in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are living a full and free life.
You’re just fetishizing the suffering of real Muslims.
Firstly, the hijab in itself, is or are piece(s) of cloth. Women wear scarves, burqas, abayas, niqabs, jilbabs and so on. The meaning of the word hijab is barrier or screen. So don’t call a headscarf ‘hijab’. hijab is bigger than that and is a concept and a manner, as well as physical covering. Secondly there is nothing in Islam that prevents women from wearing flowing white gauze headscarves, cloaks and other modest garments. That is a cultural issue. The colors, styles, and kinds of coverings worn by Muslim women variate widely, across the world. Thirdly, yes in places like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and more, women wear the hijab willingly or unwillingly. But in places like that, the culture is so tangled with religion that you cannot blame religion. Believe me, I’m Muslim. Islam is not oppressive. Plenty of Muslims are. And that’s because they are misled, like ISIS for example. ISIS is a sham – something America set up and cries wolf for. But hundreds of Muslims flock to ISIS genuinely believing it’s a legit Jihad (holy war) It’s not. ISIS does not even allow their men to keep Sunnah beards. But there are so many other things done to women in the name of Islam that isn’t remotely Islamic – selling brides, forced child marriages, marriage without consent, etc etc. It is necessary to divorce culture, ignorance and misinterpretation from religion otherwise you risk throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Fourthly, the idea that hijab is a symbol of oppression is bullshit. Who makes it into a symbol of oppression? People like you. People who haven’t met and spoken to Muslim women who wear hijab in its different forms. The secularized western world that prides itself on being pro- freedom of choice is making itself look really stupid by telling a Muslim woman what she should or shouldn’t wear. And France? With the nudist colonies, they allow and encourage people to take their clothes off as an expression of freedom. But the Muslim woman is fined for wearing a veil. Who are these people to decide what a Muslim woman should and shouldn’t wear? Let her decide for herself. She has a choice until you take it away from her. Fifthly, and as for those who don’t have a choice, how about actually doing something helpful about the worse issues they’re facing because when you tackle the crux of the problem – the unIslamic misogyny and mindset and cultural and national bit of it, the issue of hijab falls away instead of turning the hijab into a symbol of oppression. Hijab is one part of Islam and it is between a woman and God, to begin with. And men are not exempt from hijab. Men are supposed to lower their gaze. To cover from the navel to the knees and preferably wear a long shirt and pants (kurta/ qameez) as well as a hat (topi) Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) would bathe himself whilst wearing a lungi which is a male equivalent of a sarong out of modesty. In his last sermon he repeatedly urged men to be good and kind to women. Islam is a religion that is perfect in its’ entirety. But Muslims are flawed, some are misguided, some are blinded by culture or ignorance, many are not. Have you studied Islam for seven years? No. Neither have I but that is how long you would generally study to become a scholar. So do not claim to know Islam. Do not label misognystic practices as Islamic. Do not label the hijab as oppressive because by doing so, YOU are making it so. Muslim women who wear the hijab in America and other wonderfully liberated parts of the West face hatred, Islamophobia, violence and discrimination. I suggest you stop calling the kettle black.
PREACH.
this comment has given me life – preach it sister
Islam is a pernicious faith, and everything that you decry as “un-Islamic” is distinctly and uniquely Islamic. As an overview, Islam is very different from the other Abrahamic religions. Muslims are, in reality, Christian schismatic heretics who simply deny the trinity and advance a subsequent prophet. As the modern Bible was constructed in a series of councils in Byzantium, theologians whose ideas were rejected were exiled to the arid and backwards Arabian peninsula. Thus, Islam is an amalgamation of rejected Christian philosophies. That is the extent of the faith, and Islam is defined more by its culture.
The rest is a political doctrine designed to encourage the assimilation of disparate peoples, brought under Muslim rule in the initial brutal Islamic conquests of the 8th century. That is why there is such an intense focus on Islamic education, clothing, diet, marriage, discourse and iconography, and a complete rejection of anything un-Islamic. This political motivation also explains the repressive nature of Islam’s treatment towards women and non-Muslims, who are to this day barred from participating in civic life in even the most “moderate” of Muslim countries like Indonesia.
You are clearly not well-versed in Islamic scripture given that you claim that child brides are not present in the Qur’an and Hadiths. Muhammad himself forced the 9-year old Aisha to marry him. I have studied Islam extensively, clearly more than you have. Insofar as you think the Jizya, Jihad, annihilation of animist Arab tribes, purging of the Aramaics, Chaldeans, Nestorians, Berbers and Black Africans in Egypt and the Barbary Coast, etc. is “perfect”, you are literally insane. Muslims aside, Islam is a religion with medieval tenets.
I agree with your assertion that women ought not be fined for wearing a Hijab; French policies on the matter have always been anti-freedom. I challenge you to find one other Western country with a Hijab fine, and I further challenge you to document the French Government enforcing this Hijab ban. Instead of a fine, there ought to be a discourse that criticizes the Hijab as it is used in oppressive circumstances. Women should know that, by virtue of their humanity, they can choose to wear the Hijab, but they do not have to. You may think that you are advancing this future of choice, but in reality you are cloaking the misogynistic ideas of Imams in romantic language about colorful, flowing garments. You know that women in mainstream Islam are not wearing loose floral patterns; that would be immodest and illegal.
The corporate scions and philanthropists that this article attacks are not the French Government; they are Western citizens, speaking out against the oppression of women by Islamic men. Islamic culture and religion are one and the same, and both are equally unproductive in global society and need massive reform. Only in Muslim countries do women experience the horrible misogyny of the Qur’an and Hadiths, so the faith is inextricably linked to abuse against women.
You my friend, are wrong. I am not going to have a long argument with you. Muslims believe that all the books that have become bibles – namely, the Book of Abraham(Ibrahim), the Torah (Taurat) to Moses(Musa), the Psalms (Zabur) to David(Dawud) and the Gospel (Injeel) to Jesus (Eesa)and the Quran to Muhammad (peace be upon him) Each group of people were Muslims, Islam developed as God sent messengers down and was perfected by the time the Quran was revealed. Waraqah bin Naufal was a Christian man who recognized Muhammad as a true prophet. Islam is not defined by the culture of those who adopt it any more than any other religion is. Culture is what people have done for years and years simply because they have inherited it. Religion is not defined by culture. Don’t delude yourself. And by the way Muhammad did not force Aa’isha to marry him. Aaisha’s father arranged it with him as was the custom at the time. Believe me when I say that no sensible Muslim man in 2016 would marry their six or seven year old off. My great grandmother was married via arrangement. They began living together at 16. They were born and bred in a deeply cultural and traditional India. My grandmother and grandfather did not marry via arrangement. They were not married at 16. Don’t muddle things up. There were slaves at the time of Islam but today, Muslim scholars abolish slavery. At the time of Muhammad’s (Peace be upon him) prophethood, arab men had wives over and above ten and treated them like slaves. Islam then limited men to four wives at that point. And today, if a Muslim man wants four wives, he is obligated to give each of them the exact same amount of provisions, lodgings etc. Exact same. Muhammad (Peace be upon him) was the best example of a Muslim. Muslims in 2016 cannot uphold Islam the way Muslims did then. A lot has fallen along the way. The Quran is miraculous in itself. Study it. And Islam is not the reason for misogyny. If that was the case, why is misogny so present globally? There is sexism deeply rooted in western ideals for women. There is misogyny everywhere. There is gang rape and slut shaming. Women are objectified, vilified and oppressed in an extreme on the other side of the spectrum. Why has feminism become so important, otherwise? I am done here.
My hijab is a commandment from God and a declaration of independence from the approval of people like you. I do not owe you an explanation, but I have given you one. You don’t have to agree. You just have to accept it. Or you can do neither.
Goodbye.
Blind faith is not a sign of intelligence, nor is your discussion of the “perfect” Quran. You are spending your time justifying four wives, hijabs and Islamic slavery practices (which were much harsher than the European slave trade). Arabisation and Islamization are one and the same, just as Arab and Islamic culture are inseparable. If you are truly comfortable living such an obvious sham of a life, taking the dictums of medieval Arab men as “perfect freedom”, then you are certainly allowed to. I just ask that you admit to the repression you’re justifying, and call a spade a spade.
Hi Libertarian. Here are a few things to consider. Christian women (the Amish, for example) have often covered their hair as a sign of modesty–so this is not just a Muslim thing. And as your responders have noted, men also in Islam are supposed to cover their bodies as a sign of modesty. Again this holds true in other traditions. I was once sunning myself on a rooftop in Jerusalem (I was only a boy of seventeen at the time) when a old Greek Orthodox (I believe) woman made me put my shirt back on. I did that willingly because Christianity teaches that one should not, if possible, offend another person’s conscience (I considered myself a Christian at the time). Your responders are also correct in pointing out that you cannot equate culture and religion. In the early 20th Century, for example, pretty much all Christians in the US would have considered it inappropriate for a woman to wear a two-piece bathing suit, but not so today. What has changed–Christianity or culture? Clearly it’s the culture that has changed, and not Christianity. So, what constitutes modesty differs from one culture to another, within a culture, and within each faith. We should respect those differences.
You’re incorrect. Sure, Christians and Jews were once repressive peoples as well, reflective of their medieval cultures. Thanks to moderating influences that are unique to Western peoples and religion, like the Papal hierarchy and scientific innovation, Christians and Jews are now modernized. Muslims remain the same people with the same values as they had in the 8th century.
In Jerusalem, you had to put your shirt on because you were confronted by an old prudish lady who *may* have been a Christian; women have to wear the hijab because otherwise they will be beaten and stoned by Muslim men.
I’ve been all over the Levant, which heavily informs my opinion on the Muslim world. You’ve been to Jerusalem, and seen the deplorable state of existence for women there. You should be personally ashamed; you have abandoned people that you are in a position to help, whose message you can spread. Instead, you pretend that the misogyny that has characterized Islam for a thousand years and across every culture is local and minor.
Human rights are more important than a violent, incestuous doctrine like the Quran.
Many cultures have been misogynist–not just Muslim cultures. I’m not defending misogyny (I’m a Western liberal) but what you really should consider is this. Several Muslim women have responded to you, defending their right to choose to wear a head covering–why do you deny them that dignity, insisting instead that they’ve been culturally or religiously brainwashed? Don’t you see that you are being like the Bolsheviks who, faced with the opposition of the peasants, sent them to re-education camps so that they might learn to think “correctly”? You need to accept their individual choices instead of berating their faith.
I am not advocating for the banning of the Hijab; neither are the corporate scions in this article. We are admonishing Western Muslims to recognize the Hijab for what it is: a repressive coercion facilitated by Muslim men. These people are responding to me because they want to minimize the oppression that real Muslim women face in real Muslim cultures; they want to justify the Hijab and its related suffering.
I could not care less if Western Muslims wear their immodest, colorful and floral Hijabs. But Western Muslims should not rebuke calls for moderation in mainstream Islam, because in so doing they are perpetuating the horrible conditions that Muslim women live under in the East.
Don’t ascribe this barbaric and oppressive misogyny to culture. Muslims are the worst misogynists in the world, as they have been for centuries. Their misogyny is codified in the Quran and the Hadiths, so it can’t be hidden. Islamic oppression is widespread, disgusting and must be wiped out, instead of defended by people like you.
“Muhammad himself forced the 9-year old Aisha to marry him. I have studied Islam extensively…”
Well, since you have studied Islam extensively you should have NO problem substantiating your above claim. Please inform how you reached the above conclusion. I am always open to knowledge about Islam especially when it comes from learned people like you who have studied Islam extensively.
Please cite references from the Qur’an to prove your point. Without those your opinion carries NO weight whatsoever.
In fact once you have done so I will demonstrate to you that the Bible is false. That the Jesus depicted in the Bible was NOT divine. That the Bible implies that he may as well have been a homosexual. Further, Paul, the self anointed apostle, a contradiction in terms, on whose letters and lectures NT is founded was a practicing homosexual. I will prove all this using the Bible, not the Qur’an.
Now take me up on this by proving your above allegation, statement. Get going. Take your time. I shall wait.
I was waiting for this, it’s a major sign that I have won the argument.
First, you’re doing something that is called “moving the goalposts”. You want me, and only me, to substantiate my claims on only one assertion that I made. So it’s already clear that you know you’ve lost the debate and you know that Islam is a pernicious belief system. You’re just a cynical liar who wants to protect a barbaric and repressive political system.
Second, allow me to substantiate the claim that Aisha was coerced into marriage. If you read the hadith Sahih al-Bukhari 5:58.234, you will see that Muhammad married Aisha at the age of 6, while he was in his 50’s. Muhammad then raped Aisha at the age of 9 to consummate the marriage.
There you go. You lose. If you want to tell me that the 9-year old consented, then you are a disgusting pig and you ought to move to Saudi Arabia so you can take your four child brides.
You can say all that you would like about the bible, but you’d be committing a heinous act of sacrilege given that Muslims still theoretically consider the book to be a scripture. I don’t care if Jesus was a member of the Nazi party, because today his followers are engaged in scientific advancement, charitable works and secular governance. I’m not a Christian, and you’re just a Christian schismatic heretic, so you wouldn’t be doing yourself any favors.
“I was waiting for this, it’s a major sign that I have won the argument.”
What argument? There has been NO argument. I requested a reference from the Qur’an, you have failed to provide that. How is that a win?
“First, you’re doing something that is called “moving the goalposts”
What goal posts? You made a statement. I asked you to prove it? Nothing has changed. That request still stands unanswered by you. What goal posts have been moved?
“You want me, and only me, to substantiate my claims on only one assertion that I made.”
You made a claim. Should you not be the one to prove it? Should I be asking Tom, Dick or Harry to prove your claim?
“you know that Islam is a pernicious belief system.”
No, I don’t know that. I think Islam provides the best laws and optimum behavior to live in peace and harmony in a contentious zero sum ‘game of life’ on this World in preparation for the next.
“You’re just a cynical
liar who wants to protect a barbaric and repressive political system.”
Not really. But you have the right to your opinion, unsubstantiated.
“You
want me […] to substantiate my claims on only one assertion
that I made.”
You have made many statements. You have made many allegations. You have said many things. In fact you have been all over the place and beyond. That is the sign of fuzzy thinking, an unfocused confused mind.
I may take you up on all of them but one at a time. What you have been requested to substantiate is fundamental. As a logical person I can’t let such an assertion stand without merit. You have to prove it before this discussion can move ahead.
“…allow me to substantiate the claim that Aisha was coerced into
marriage. If you read the hadith Sahih al-Bukhari 5:58.234, you will see
that Muhammad married Aisha at the age of 6, while he was in his 50’s.
Muhammad then raped Aisha at the age of 9 to consummate the marriage.”
I had requested you to reference the Noble Qur’an. And you come up with a fabricated Hadith. Further, the Hadith you have referenced has nothing to do with the subject being discussed, which tells me that you are NO scholar of Islam. In fact you have NO knowledge of Islam much less an extensive knowledge of Islam, and I suspect of anything else. You are but an uneducated CutaPasta Troll. One of penny a dozen floating around the Internet.
“There you go. You lose. […] you are a disgusting pig…”
Lose at what? Exchanging profanities with you? All I am asking you is to substantiate your allegation. Prove your statement. Spewing profanities at me is not it.
“If you want to tell me that the 9-year old
consented, then you are a disgusting pig and you ought to move to Saudi
Arabia so you can take your four child brides.”
I am NOT telling you any such thing. You are the one who made that statement. I have only requested you to prove it.
And I don’t understand your tangent to Saudi Arabia and child brides. Saudi Arabia is a non-Muslim heretical state. An addendum of the US-Zionist-Hindoo War on Islam. And pedophilia is an American, Hindoo, Far Eastern obsession. Seems to be yours too.
As for me only a confident, honest, highly intelligent woman with a beautiful mind, at least twenty three years old, can possibly hold interest. Just one, not two, not four or more. I am into quality, not quantity.
“You can say all that you would like about the bible, but you’d be committing a heinous act of sacrilege given that
Muslims still theoretically consider the book to be a scripture.”
Not really. The Bible is corrupted beyond belief. The Bible says so, about itself. And the Qur’an has pointed it out too.
BTW the Qur’an is the overriding ‘Final Testament’. The OT and NT have been abrogated by it. That is what Muslims believe.
“I don’t care if Jesus was a member of the Nazi party, because today his
followers are engaged in scientific advancement, charitable works and
secular governance.”
Not Nazi but Communist. BTW Jesus has NO followers. He has NO Gospel. Christianity is a misnomer. All you have are Pauline Flock.
As for modern scientific achievements they are too complex for anyone alone to achieve anymore, they are built on team work of all the people of the world. Built on the shoulders of giants: Muslim Giants!
As far as Christians are concerned they are magical thinkers. Christians believe in magic and miracles. They don’t believe in science.
BTW the latest discoveries in physics, gravitational waves, are the work of two Pakistani Muslim scientists. As is the discovery of the ALS gene, a major scientific breakthrough in medicine.
“I’m not a Christian, and you’re just a Christian
schismatic heretic…”
Wrong on both counts. You are NOT a Christian. You are nothing, zero, zip, nada. You are but a troll.
And I am a Muslim.
Alhamdollilah!
The hadith proves that Muhammad raped a 9-year old girl. Muhammad was, by the admission of your own scripture, a pedophile and a rapist. You did not respond to the hadith that you asked for at all. Islam is a fomentation of rejected radical Christian ideas; you are the reject bin of a much larger and much older faith.
I’m not a Christian, but you’re embarrassing yourself by claiming that Muslims have made any innovative moves in the last thousand years. The “Pakistani” scientists made their discoveries using Western technology in Western labs, with Western colleagues and Western financial patronage and support; these discoveries, like all others for centuries, are distinctly and uniquely Western and secular in nature.
Islam is a heresy of Christianity, your ideology merely denies the trinity and advances a hilarious prophet with no historicity.
When the Eastern Romans rejected a theologian, he was exiled to the Arab peninsula along with his heretical teachings. From this cesspool of horrible people and horrible ideology emerged the pernicious political system of Islam.
This is a very good article. As a french woman I felt so ashamed when Rossignol said that. She is supposed to defend every women in France. I know that some women are forced to wear the headscarf in some countries but this is not the majority. The headscarf is a symbol of freedom because women choose to wear it or not. Plus it is good that the fashion is not only for occidental culture but for all the culture in the world.
The hijab is just another way Muslim women are denigrated and subjugated in Muslim society. To say otherwise is complete nonsense. Praise to Laurence Rossignol and Berge for describing the “new Negros” in European and American societies.
do you know there are Millions Muslims without hijab and Millions with hijab,
do you know there are Bad muslims who commit adultery as christians and Good
why there are bad and good its becuz Allah give US FREEDOM of choice in THIS worldly Life …Hijabi muslims choosen right road and obeyed her creator rather to obey Creatures
Negroes slaves had NO right , No freedom of choice, the white racist race taken all black race slaves rights
by the way Most chast pious women is virgin Marry and she is role model to every muslimah ..and Marry symbol of modesty was in her Hijab , enjoy your life then your fate is to hell forever . Islam is choice so choose wisedly and Allah gave us Brains and encourage us hundreds times in Quran to reflect and seek truth .and to educate ourself . when descendant of racist white race come and say muslims women doesn’t have right to cover her hair or her eyes or anything ..he is taken from her her Rights of freedom and choices , so don’t be bigot like your forefatehr were!!
as hijab is choice as prayer is choice as whole islam is choice , want heaven follow Allah , want hell diseobey him , simple .
So the white European women where were assaulted and raped in Cologne Germany by Muslim migrants this year should be justified using your logic since they did not have modesty? Please do not insult the West’s intelligence by your ignorance and bring women back to the dark ages with your barbaric religion and practices. Thank you. And Jesus be with you.
do you know there are Millions Muslims without hijab and Millions with hijab,
do you know there are Bad muslims who commit adultery as christians and Good
why there are bad and good its becuz Allah give US FREEDOM of choice in THIS worldly Life …Hijabi muslims choosen right road and obeyed her creator rather to obey Creatures
Negroes slaves had NO right , No freedom of choice, the white racist race taken all black race slaves rights
by the way Most chast pious women is virgin Marry and she is role model to every muslimah ..and Marry symbol of modesty was in her Hijab , enjoy your life then your fate is to hell forever . Islam is choice so choose wisedly and Allah gave us Brains and encourage us hundreds times in Quran to reflect and seek truth .and to educate ourself . when descendant of racist white race come and say muslims women doesn’t have right to cover her hair or her eyes or anything ..he is taken from her her Rights of freedom and choices , so don’t be bigot like your forefatehr were!!
as hijab is choice as prayer is choice as whole islam is choice , want heaven follow Allah , want hell diseobey him , simple .