The last couple of decades in France have been subject to intense conflict over how Muslim women dress.
The French government has passed a series of laws banning women from wearing first the hijab, then the niqab, burkini, and now the abaya in public spaces, especially schools. All in the name of laïcité -i.e., secularism, which marks the focal point of the French nationalist identity.
Several studies have been conducted and published to resolve this contentious debate. However, it is still unclear whether the ban on Islamic veils inhibits Muslim girls from having a regular schooling experience or whether this policy encourages their academic and social integration into French culture. This is partly due to the existence of media biases, where both sides of the argument seem to be backed up with conflicting statistics of secondary and high school graduation rates of Muslim women before and after the implementation of the hijab ban.
The government's defense for the significant backlash against these 'Islamophobic' policies is that Islamic veils are a sign of the "too much externalization" of religious association, which is incompatible with the neutrality required in public schools. Consistent with France's secularist approach to reinforce national unity.
Similarly, those for the ban on headscarves present several arguments. For example, before the hijab ban, a 'silent majority' of young Muslim girls had to wear the veil because their Muslim parents forced them to do so. As a result, they had to face adversity both in school through social isolation if they wore the scarf ( where the hijab is not a norm) and then at home if they didn't wear the hijab to school. Following the ban, the tension on one side was relieved, and attending school without wearing the veil was no longer considered a troublesome choice at home (it was feasible to participate in school without incurring social reprobation), resulting in a lower dropout risk.
Their academic performance significantly improved once these students started attending school with reduced peer pressure. Research by Éric Maurin and Nicolás Navarrete Hernandez shows an 8% reduction in high school graduation gaps between Muslim and non-Muslim girls in France after the hijab ban.
Under the same research, they describe how many girls thought of the veil as misogynistic, seeing their brothers weren't forced to do so. Along with the finding that the ban vastly increased the chances of mixed marriages in France for a more united yet diverse population.
On the other hand, a vast proportion of women who wish to live by the rules of Islam have been protesting against the ban.
After its implementation in 2004, girls were required to go to school unveiled. Failure to do so left them with 4 options - expulsion, continuing at a relatively expensive private school, online learning, or fleeing the country. Hence the increased risk of dropout. Even in successful negotiations with the school staff, the disruptions caused by the ban for many girls resulted in delays in completing their secondary education. Vasiliki Fouka, professor at Stanford. Looking at other long-term consequences in her study, she found that "the veiling law widens the employment gap by more than a third, the labor force participation gap by more than half, and the gap between Muslims and non-Muslims in cohabitation with parents by more than a third."
Such policies have implications for the broader Muslim population in schools who don't wear headscarves as well, bringing unwanted attention to the way they dress and adding fuel to the ethnic conflict.
In response to the ban, many French and other international influencers have started the "Don't touch my hijab movement" on social media. To demand their freedom of expression, whether it is wearing the hijab or taking it off.
What do you guys think? Do hijab regulations reduce the social adversity Muslim women face as citizens of France? Or do they reinforce the French-Muslim divide and disrupt their education and other aspects of life?
Religion is something that is very close to people's hearts, it is wrong to make assumptions about another culture or religion and the activites that they do. Hijab is often seen as a sign of supression and oppression by the west and the power of the west is such that they have generated these notions around the concept of hijab. When you circulate false notions about a religion, for example, Islam, it perpetuates negative notions such as phobia for that particular religion, for example Islamophobia. The west also holds a lot of power and can do all this without being met with serious actions or consequences, which is deeply distressing and alarming.
Rania, This is a well-written and informative blog post that raises important questions about the ban on Islamic veils in French schools. Blog is a balanced overview of the issue, presenting both the arguments for and against the ban. I found the research cited in the post to be particularly interesting, as it provides some evidence that the ban may have had both positive and negative effects on Muslim girls' education. You mentioned conflicting statistics regarding secondary and high school graduation rates of Muslim women before and after the implementation of the hijab ban. Can you provide more clarity on the sources of these statistics and the methodologies used to ensure accuracy? You mentioned that some girls faced pressure to wear the hijab from their parents before the ban, leading to social isolation if they wore it and potential family conflict if they didn't. How has the ban influenced the perception of wearing or not wearing the hijab as a personal choice for Muslim girls? Has it genuinely increased their freedom of choice, or are there still underlying pressures?
I really liked your post! This is such an apt issue. One thing that particularly stood out to me was the French beleif that secularism could be achieved by forcing people to stop wearing parts of their religious identity on themselves, which is utterly ridiculous. Secularism is a theory that is enforced on a state level, i.e. that a government will not take a religious stance, not that it will make life hell for people wanting to practice their own religions on an individual level. Would they then stop a Christian from wearing the cross? Or a Hindu from wearing sandoor on their foreheads? All in the name of a 'united' society?
France is famously problematic when it comes to accepting different religions or ethnicities. There's a video by Trevor Noah where he details this in the Between the Scenes segment of his show, The Daily Show that I'm attaching here as I think it aptly covers this issue.
France, it seems, has not learned how to acknowledge and subsequently get over its colonial mindset, something that is also apparent in past British colonies as well. I have explored this in my articles here and here. I'd love to hear your insight!
What an interesting topic! Your blog has sparked two thoughts in me that I'd like to discuss. First, I want to highlight the hypocrisy in the West, where there's a claim about liberal rights and the freedom for everyone to live as they wish. Then, what's the issue with wearing a hijab? No one should dictate to a woman what she should wear—whether it's a bikini or a hijab.
Secondly, there's the portrayal of 'us' by the West for centuries, which has fueled hate and Islamophobia.
Currently, students in France are prohibited from wearing the hijab in schools. But what threat do they pose? Imagine how this could affect their self-worth. When a similar dress code policy was implemented at LUMS, all girls were upset about how our bodies were being policed.
A very important topic to study, Rania! What is ironic to me in this entire scenario is how even as you mentioned, France stresses on the need for national unity in the name of secularism and then in the same breath, bans the hijab/niqab. Isn't the live and let live ideology that secularism propagates allow for freedom of expression and so then muslim women who choose to wear the hijab must be allowed to do so as that is how they feel comfortable expressing themselves in. The way the French government has banned this piece of clothing, isnt that also propagating a dominant understanding of what the French idea of autonomy is? It is quite disappointing to see the way France uses the idea of "liberation" to ban these pieces because at the same time, it takes away the autonomy of muslim women who choose to cover themselves using a hijab. The bit that you mentioned about schools and the relation of hijab to it sounded pretty interesting to me. Schools should be spaces where students must be taught to respect the sentiments of others and be tolerant to however a person chooses to express themselves. By banning hijab what the French state is eunsuring essentially is comfort for an overarching majority of white students at the expense of more vulnerable populations giving away the message that people will change in order to cater to the wite, european majority.
I wholeheartedly agree that such measures tend to foster social isolation and curtail educational opportunities for affected individuals. I believe, regulations like these contribute to social isolation and limit educational opportunities. The emphasis on enforcing a specific dress code is a challenge to personal autonomy I believe, reinforcing the french muslim division. These regulations are also an infringement on human rights, limiting individual autonomy. While regulations should be present to uphold certain values and cultural beliefs, it is crucial to weigh the potential consequences of these policies on social integration and educational access.