The veil affair, or rather the scarf affair, in France is a controversial topic, which resulted in the creation of legislation prohibiting "conspicuous" signs of religious affiliation in public schools. This article of law, was pointedly aimed at young Muslim girls who wore the hijab in state schools. Proponents of the law argued that it was a defence of laicite, a French principle which is described as delegating religion to the private sphere, and out of the public civic sphere. Joan Wallach Scott writes, that such legislation, or separation is the state acting to protect individuals from the claims of religion. Scott, further says that laicite, is an instrument of the state to create acceptable forms of religion, which has justified the exclusion and …show more content…
Olivier Roy, discusses the relationship between French laicite, and Islam, and how laicite is essentially an obsession with religion. This obsession leads to the desire to legislate about religion instead of accepting true separation. In terms of Islam, laicite singles out Islam as a religion which is not compatible with French ideals. As mentioned before, secularism has become an ideological tool in the rise of anti-Muslim discourse. Islam is viewed as a threat to French national unity, and identity, as it encompasses practices which are deemed “wrong” by French principles. It assumes the expression of religious and cultural practices are forms of extremism. France has been a witness to atrocious terrorist attacks, and the fear of the population is used by political discourse to shape public opinions and values that marginalize minorities. These opinions and values stereotype Muslim minorities and creates a view of them as outcasts. It assumes that those who are not willing to adopt French values, are not French, and that if they are not with them, they are against
Professor Leila Ahmed, active Islamic feminist, in her article “Reinventing the veil” published in the Financial Times assumes that there is a connection between “advancement” and veiling, which means that unveiled women are advanced and vice versa. In addition, she supports that it led to increasing rate of violence. She questions why women wear veil, that is considered as “symbol of patriarchy and women’s oppression”. However, research changed her position towards wearing veil. Firstly, she states that wearing veil was essential for women, because it could be beneficial and influence to how people treat women, in terms of job, marriage and free movement in public. Secondly, her assumption was explained while interviewing women, who stated
The legislation aspires to prohibit public-sector employees from wearing “objects such as headgear, clothing, jewelry or other religious affiliation”. These objects include items such as kippahs, turbans, hijabs, and large crucifixes. This ban would be intended to apply to all civil servants, including individuals such as teachers, doctors, nurses and police offiercers (Jake Flanagin, The Atlantic). At a hearing for Bill 60, Michelle Blanc, who is a transgender woman, spoke in support of the Bill, appealing to Quebecers' pro-LGBT feelings. “When I see a veil, the mental image I have is all of the gays who were hung high and low in the public square... in certain Arab countries”, Blanc had stated. Although same-sex relationships and the importance of being accepting of all religions have been two of the most controversial and highly debated topics, it is definitely not the right step to attack the Muslim religion and specific Arab countries in an attempt to defend Bill 60. Much like it is innapropriate to accuse the LGBT community of being anti-religion, it is equally innapropriate to accuse an entire religion for the horrible act of the hanging of gays in certain Arab countries. Not all gays are
In the novel The Scarlet Letter and the short story “The Minister’s Black Veil”, Nathaniel Hawthorne incorporates romantic elements, such as beauty, truth, innocence, and sin, in his criticism of Puritan societies. In both texts, Hawthorne argues that all people, even those in strictly religious societies with corrupted standards, are capable of sin. Hawthorne uses symbolism and light and dark imagery to convey his argument.
Have you ever wondered why there are minister’s that wear veils? Especially black veils! In my essay I will be arguing about why I conjecture Mr. Hooper wears the black veil. Mr. Hooper is a character from the story ‘’The Ministers Black Veil’’. I’ll be explaining all of my observations on why he wears the veil, and what precipitated Mr. Hooper to convey everyone’s sins.
The largest community in France is that of Algerian origins. The North Africans and Muslims in France create controversy amongst the citizens. The French government believes that the m...
Every human is a born sinner, none of us are perfect. We have been known to keep secrets due to fear of rejection or even fear of being criticized. A great example of this can be found in the story “The Ministers Black Veil” which is about a minister who wears this black veil symbolizing secret and him hiding behind the truth. Even the people we look up to can make mistakes and sin like everyone else.
Muslims, Sikhs, and many other religious affiliations have often been targeted for hate crimes, racial slurs, and misfortunate events. We are all different in our own ways some are good and some are bad yet one event changes everything for everyone affiliated with the group. The book The Politics of the Veil by Joan Scott a renowned pioneer in gender studies gives a detailed and analytical book of about the French views towards the Muslim females in France during 2004. The author talks about why the French governments official embargo of wearing conspicuous signs is mainly towards the headscarves for Muslim girls under the age of eighteen in public schools. The main themes of book are gender inequality, sexism, and cultural inequality historical schools used in the book are history of below, woman’s history, cultural history, and political history. In this essay, I will talk about why Joan Scotts argument on why the French government’s ban on wearing conspicuous signs was
The Minister’s Black Veil, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1836, is a parable about a minister, Mr. Hooper, who constantly wears a mysterious black veil over his face. The people in the town of Milford, are perplexed by the minister’s veil and cannot figure out why he insists on wearing it all of the time. The veil tends to create a dark atmosphere where ever the minister goes, and the minister cannot even stand to look at his own reflection. In Nathaniel Hawthorne 's literary work, The Minister 's Black Veil, the ambiance of the veil, separation from happiness that it creates, and the permanency of the black veil symbolize sin in people’s lives.
In both given articles, “The Roots of Muslim Rage” by Bernard Lewis, and “The Roots of Muslim Rage Revisited” by Nicolaas J.E. van der Zee, argue about the enhancement of the Muslim fundamentalism with different perspectives; however, I believe that Lewis’ view may be quiet misleading to the actual perception. Lewis indicates that Muslim fundamentalism is conceived through the Muslim community’s oppression and dissatisfaction with the West’s political involvement, as well as “Islam is a source of aggression” . In defiance of Lewis’ opinion, the word ‘Islam’ comes from the word peace as well as the will of submission to God. The notion of aggression and violence that Lewis conceptualizes to be the headline of Islam does not have any supporting
There are many different views towards Muslim choice of clothing especially wearing the veil. “I wear it believing it is necessary, but someone else can be wearing it believing that she is doing something extra” said Hamna Ahmed. One of the many reasons a Muslim can be wearing the veil are their own personal decisions too. Hamna has been wearing it for seven years now, despite her mother and three of her four sisters staying uncovered. Socially this causes an issue with the meaning of the veil and conflict with other groups. With many different consumptions of religion, what it means, what is considered to be practicing and what is not can lead to negative misunderstandings. Ultimately the decisions are up to the individuals although; there is likely to be misinterpretation between the meaningfulness of religion to family and society. On an even bigger scale of things this could also impact society and it...
Most of these things it is possible to see through the analysis of the situation that exists in practice and analysis of several court cases. In France, for years women with Hijab encounter problems, both in education and in ...
Wearing the burqa and veil by Muslim women in France has become a controversial topic. The burqa and veil are recognized in France as a conflicti...
The Dreyfus affair was a scandal which rocked France for 12 years. It comprised of a Jewish staff officer named Alfred Dreyfus who was falsely convicted of giving French military secrets to the Germans. This came about when a ripped up letter was found in a bin at the German Embassy in Paris which had similar handwriting to that of Dreyfus. He was sent to Devil’s Island to serve a life sentence. It became such a huge scandal due to all of the speculation surrounding Dreyfus’ guilt or innocence. In 1896, Georges Picquart, ‘uncovered evidence pointing to another French military officer, Major Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy, as the real traitor.’ Once Picquart reported his findings he was told to stop his investigation, sent to Tunisia and then imprisoned.
Davis, Derek H. “Reacting to France’s Ban: headscarves and other Religious Attire in American Public Schools.” Journal of Church and State. Spring 2004. EBSCO. Online. Feb 28 2010.
The rise of Islam quickly created fear and hatred in Christian Europe, which identified itself as it’s rival. European crusades were called in the eleventh century to win back the Holy Land from the Muslims, though they were only partially successful. Hostility to Islam in Europe has remained a major theme to th...