On Aug. 13, 2009, this paper ran the story "French pool bars Muslim woman for *burquini' suit", about a woman identified only as Carole - a 35-year-old convert to Islam - who complained of religious discrimination after trying to go swimming in a "burquini", a full-body swimsuit, in the town of Emerainville, southeast of Paris. Officials said they had banned the woman from wearing the Islam-friendly suit at a local pool because of France's hygiene standards - not out of hostility toward overtly Muslim garb.
Despite the official statement, it is hard not to separate the case from its religious aspects, as Islamic religious attire has long been a matter of concern in France. In 2004, lawmakers issued a ban on the wearing of Muslim headscarves at public schools in France, as well as other religious attire such as Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses in public classrooms.
In other Western countries, too, Muslim women's headscarves have ignited debate. This also happened in Indonesia - a predominantly Muslim society - in the 1980s, when the headscarf or jilbab was also banned at public schools.
Your comments:
How sad that the full facts of the "burqini" story aren't investigated or reported and that people crying out how Muslims are always treated so badly in the West just leap onto this story!
Has the writer ever been to a public pool in France? I was in Paris in May and went to the pools with my friends. Once the staff realize you are foreigner, they will instantly tell you in no uncertain terms that all men must wear speedo-type or short lycra swimwear.
There are no exceptions. No long, loose shorts allowed. Too bad if the male is uncomfortable or has a religious objection. All French men and boys have grown up with this rule, including the sizable Moroccan and Algerian population.
Everyone must also shower before swimming. So it is far more hygienic and they use far less chlorine (which is an unhealthy chemical). No street clothes are allowed. If you don't like it, don't swim there. Go to the beach. It is that simple.
And the women too, I noticed they were all in correct swimwear, i.e. one-piece or bikinis. No shorts or T-shirts, as is common here in Australia. So the "burqini" would be seen as not fitting into their rules.
All French Muslim girls and women seem to have managed until this French convert woman argued for an exception. By the way, is there still a total ban on all non-Muslims going to the city of Mecca? If so, surely this whole debate becomes ridiculous.
Tony M.
Melbourne
According to the writer, "It is rarely the case that men's bodies become the battlefield of ideologies as those of women's."
Well the Indonesian government has been trying for decades to get men of the Papuan highlands to abandon their penis gourds and to wear clothes considered "respectable" by Westerners.
No Papuan highlander would ever be allowed to sit in the Indonesian House of Representatives wearing his traditional dress. Besides this example, you mentioned the French ban on male pupils wearing Jewish skullcaps in state schools.
But for reasons you do not explain, you consider this to be insignificant compared to the ban on female students wearing Muslim headscarves in state schools. Perhaps you feel that restrictions on Jews in predominantly Christian European countries are a minor footnote in history.
Or perhaps, since the facts did not fit snugly into your dogmatic point of view, you decided to ignore them.
John Hargreaves
Jakarta
I agree with the sentiment that women and men should be free to decide what is best for them and not be discriminated against based on their physical performance. If a woman decides to wear a headscarf, let her do it.
If a woman decides to wear tank tops and hot pants so be it. Of course there are limitations for security requirements, like if a woman chooses to wear to a bank a burqa or burqa-like clothes that cover almost all of their faces.
She should be denied, because she will be hard to identify if something goes wrong. The same applies for men who go into a bank with ski masks - they should be denied. I think people should stop being the moral police for everybody.
Ryan Octavianus
Jakarta
