Should France Ban the Burkini?

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/20/opinion/should-france-ban-the-burkini.html

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To the Editor:

Re “France’s Burkini Bigotry” (editorial, Aug. 19):

The editorial board offers a well-reasoned defense of the right of Muslim women in France to wear the burkini. But as a resident of a Salafist neighborhood in Paris, I am particularly aware of the extent of the problem we are dealing with here.

The large majority of French women who practice Islam do not wear the burkini, for the simple fact that they are not extremists. French Salafists would like to segregate men from women in French swimming pools and not allow their sons to be taught in French schools by women whose heads are uncovered. Where does it stop, if not nipped in the bud?

We are not practicing bigotry here in France by banning the burkini; we are fighting extremist behavior.

RHYS CHATHAM

Paris

To the Editor:

Re “French Towns Battle to Ban Muslim Women’s Beach Attire” (news article, Aug. 18):

This article is frankly appalling. France is essentially telling Muslim women that their desire to cover their bodies, dress modestly and be free of the “male gaze” is against Western values.

In the name of “laïcité,” or secularism, France is stripping women of a fundamental human right: the right to cover their bodies as they choose. Women of all faiths should always be free to choose how much of their bodies they cover. This choice should come from the individual, and must never be imposed from above.

In the name of secularism and with a false sense of upholding human rights, France is instead continuing to trample on a woman’s basic right to choose how to dress and how to cover — choices that are intrinsically linked to women’s rights and dignity.

NADIA QAZI

Chicago

To the Editor:

Don’t want to see burkinis at the beach? Offer some separate swimming hours. These French mayors would probably be surprised to see not just Muslim women, but also Orthodox Jews, and even secular women who are older or less than physically fit.

Secular law doesn’t mean disrespecting religious sensibilities. It does mean tolerance for all by all, without favoritism.

France has suffered from Islamic terrorism. But forbidding religiously conservative women from using the beach, or pools, will only reinforce the notion that one cannot be a law-abiding, proud French citizen while fulfilling basic requirements for modesty.

Is that really what laïcité is all about, or does it also incorporate a condescending attitude toward religious expression outside the home?

Among some Muslims there are serious issues of anti-Semitism and a belief that Shariah law should eventually become universal law, but perhaps the French are driving tolerant Muslims toward ghettoization and growing resentment. How shortsighted.

ROSALIE LIEBERMAN

Chicago

To the Editor:

While France is engaged in a battle to balance its tradition of laïcité, whereby religious symbols are banned in public, with women wearing burkinis at beaches and headscarves in public, it might consider what Norway and some other countries are doing with immigrant Muslim men.

There, they have sponsored classes to help men learn how to think about and treat European women. Perhaps classes to help immigrant Muslim women adapt to the European culture and its values would be beneficial and a step toward lessening the strife.

CAROL DELANEY

Providence, R.I.

The writer is professor emerita of anthropology at Stanford.

To the Editor:

I’m wondering if these fine, upstanding, “feminist” French mayors are also planning to bar Catholic nuns who wear the full habit from going to their beaches and offending the sensibilities of citizens.

ROSEMARY STEWART

Snellville, Ga.