It's the Vision Thing

Woman in a burqa taking a photograph

link to photo


When I walk from my building to the library at my university, I occasionally see young women walking by in burqas.*. Their whole body is draped, usually in black (no matter what the temperature). All I can see is their eyes.

A few days ago, walking back to my office at the university, a woman in a burqa walked my way. From about 20 feet I wanted to look at her, but of course I was embarrassed. Several students walked by. They quickly moved their eyes towards the figure, but they tried to look as if they weren't looking.

Houston may seem like the outback to many Americans, but it is quite a developed and international city. I once had students from seven different nations in a single class. When we see a burqa we are curious, but not shocked. In fact, there are many more women with head scarves (and burqas) on my campus than those I saw in Paris in the early part of the summer. In 2008 the headscarf is part of Houston's landscape.

France, however, seems to have a certain distaste for the burqa and headscarf. A few years ago the government wanted to ban the use of head scarves in school classes. Now they are denying citizenship to a Moroccan woman because she has not assimilated enough. She wears a burqa. Immigration officials in France may or may not be conscious of their discomfort. I believe their antipathy towards her is because they can only see Faiza M.'s eyes and have some fantasy about what she be hiding under all that fabric. They want to be able to see her so they can make sure they are safe. Since they cannot see her, they be metaphorically speaking keep her at home. It is almost like if she can't be seen, she doesn't exist - in fact she has been labeled invisible (so to speak) by French immigration officials-- They investigated her life and decided she has no life since she doesn't leave her house often and is not aware of France's current political scene.

Faiza M.'s dilemma brings up some persistent questions in 2008 --- 

What defines a person as French (or American for that matter)?
Why shouldn't France welcome a woman in a burqa as a French citizen ?-
Who do we imagine she is if she's wearing the burqa?
Is it the business of a nation-state to judge a woman's state of independence and assimilation?
Who defines the "radical practice of Islam?"

Why does being able to "see something" affect so many of our decisions?


-----

France rejects Muslim woman over radical practice of Islam
· Expert says Moroccan lives 'almost as a recluse'
· Case reopens debate about freedom of religion
Angelique Chrisafis in Paris
The Guardian - London, Saturday July 12, 2008

France has denied citizenship to a Moroccan woman who wears a burqa on the grounds that her "radical" practice of Islam is incompatible with basic French values such as equality of the sexes.

The case yesterday reopened the debate about Islam in France, and how the secular republic reconciles itself with the freedom of religion guaranteed by the French constitution.

The woman, known as Faiza M, is 32, married to a French national and lives east of Paris. She has lived in France since 2000, speaks good French and has three children born in France. Social services reports said she lived in "total submission" to her husband. Her application for French nationality was rejected in 2005 on the grounds of "insufficient assimilation" into France. She appealed, invoking the French constitutional right to religious freedom and saying that she had never sought to challenge the fundamental values of France. But last month the Council of State, France's highest administrative body, upheld the ruling.

"She has adopted a radical practice of her religion, incompatible with essential values of the French community, particularly the principle of equality of the sexes," it said.

"Is the burqa incompatible with French citizenship?" asked Le Monde, which broke the story. The paper said it was the first time the level of a person's personal religious practice had been used to rule on their capacity be to assimilated into France...

Daniele Lochak, a law professor not involved in the case, said it was bizarre to consider that excessive submission to men was a reason not to grant citizenship. "If you follow that to its logical conclusion, it means that women whose partners beat them are also not worthy of being French," he told Le Monde...

France is home to nearly 5 million Muslims, roughly half of whom are French citizens. Criteria taken into account for granting French citizenship includes "assimilation", which normally focuses on how well the candidate speaks French. In the past nationality was denied to Muslims who were known to have links with extremists or who had publicly advocated radicalism, but that was not the case of Faiza M...

for link to complete Guardian article click here


*burqa - is an enveloping outer garment worn by women in some Islamic traditions for the purpose of cloaking the entire body. It is worn over the usual daily clothing (often a long dress or a shalwar kameez) and removed when the woman returns to the sanctuary of the household (from Wikipedia.org)

I have to thank my former professor, Steve Tyler for the idea about "vision"