Secularity in France targets the public sphere, the treatment of religious symbolism in French law raises issues of how the maintenance of secularity should go about in a nation, forcibly removing ‘visible religion’ from the public sphere, implies a lack of pluralism in a nation, laïcité then could be considered relatively undemocratic. What exactly was meant by ‘ostentatious’ is a matter of much debate, to what extent must a symbol of religious affiliation be ‘ostentatious’. This year, a 15 year old girl was sent home for wearing a long skirt, that allegedly ostentatiously displayed her Muslim faith. While the law does not explicitly target Muslims, there is by default bias toward the Muslim hijab and clothing that could be regarded Muslim.
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However, it is somewhat contradictory. The Hijaab is useful as a point of distinction for French secularity, the headscarf is presented in such a way that it comes to represent the oppression of women and the removal Muslim religion from the Public sphere becomes a feminist movement. While on the one hand, the intention is to mark French secularity as progressive and pluralistic, Wallach Scott discusses this as a form of French Racism. Scott continues by arguing that French feminists initially had been critical of the contemporary, western consumer society’s tendency to reduce women to sex objects, however, this view transformed when the headscarf became an issue of debate in regard to French secularity. Secular politics is not limited to ideologies, but includes the symbolism of religions in clothing as framed by a secular …show more content…
Though many may consider the politics of secularism as separate from other state affairs, this essay suggests that in the context of France with its separationist, secular narrative, the two are one and the same. Secularism is not isolated, it builds itself in relation to religious and overseas contexts and it seems that at present the ‘veil’ has become an icon of Islam’s alleged deficits regarding French and wider European modernity. Despite France’s coercive, ‘top-down’ form of secularism, balance of pluralism and democracy, enabling religious freedom and a forceful separation of religion from the state 's public sphere is difficult to maintain, as though secularity can never be wholly conclusive. The politics of secularism are embedded in all realms, social and political of the French Republic, and these are illuminated by the ongoing headscarf
However, it is somewhat contradictory. The Hijaab is useful as a point of distinction for French secularity, the headscarf is presented in such a way that it comes to represent the oppression of women and the removal Muslim religion from the Public sphere becomes a feminist movement. While on the one hand, the intention is to mark French secularity as progressive and pluralistic, Wallach Scott discusses this as a form of French Racism. Scott continues by arguing that French feminists initially had been critical of the contemporary, western consumer society’s tendency to reduce women to sex objects, however, this view transformed when the headscarf became an issue of debate in regard to French secularity. Secular politics is not limited to ideologies, but includes the symbolism of religions in clothing as framed by a secular …show more content…
Though many may consider the politics of secularism as separate from other state affairs, this essay suggests that in the context of France with its separationist, secular narrative, the two are one and the same. Secularism is not isolated, it builds itself in relation to religious and overseas contexts and it seems that at present the ‘veil’ has become an icon of Islam’s alleged deficits regarding French and wider European modernity. Despite France’s coercive, ‘top-down’ form of secularism, balance of pluralism and democracy, enabling religious freedom and a forceful separation of religion from the state 's public sphere is difficult to maintain, as though secularity can never be wholly conclusive. The politics of secularism are embedded in all realms, social and political of the French Republic, and these are illuminated by the ongoing headscarf