In 2004, France banned Islamic headscarves in all its state schools. Despite all attempts to label that as religious discriminarion, the ban is still in effect. Currently, France has a 32 member Parliamentary committee that is investigating ways to restrict the use of the burqa in French society.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy told the Parliament, "We cannot accept to have in our country women who are prisoners behind netting, cut off from all social life, deprived of identity." I am not a big fan of President Sarkozy, but I think he's right on this issue.
Religious or not, the burqa is nothing more than a device to keep women as second-class citizens (or even worse - as slaves owned by men). It is much easier to deny women their equal rights if you can keep them cut off from the world behind a burqa.
Now it looks like the battle has moved to France's swimming pools. In Emerainville, east of Paris, officials at the public swimming pool have banned the use of a "burkini" for swimming (see picture above). The burkini covers the entire body, including the head.
According to pool official Daniel Guillaume, the staff "reminded [the woman] of the rules that apply in all (public) swimming pools which forbid swimming while clothed." And that is exactly what she was trying to do -- swim while clothed head to foot.
The woman is a French convert to Islam. She said, "Quite simply, this is segregation. I will fight to try to change things. And if I see that the battle is lost, I cannot rule out leaving France."
She is wrong. No one has tried to segregate her. They simply want her to follow the same rules required of all other women (whether French or foreign). If other women cannot swim fully-clothed, why should she be allowed to do so?
