Joan Scott Politics Of The Veil Analysis

Joan Scott’s book Politics of the Veil assesses the implications of the French government’s ban on clothing and religious signs, in particular, the wearing of veils in public schools. In the book she discloses the French government's argument for banning the headscarf which she contends with her own assertion by exploring factors such as racism, postcolonial guilt and fear among many other things. In my study, I am particularly interested in exploring the contradictory nature of the ban as it attempts to expunge a patriarchal system through its own conflicting patriarchal attitude. My interest gravitates to this topic in particular because while the veil is traditionally a garb for women, its use is subject to the opinions of the male audience. My study will focus on how the patriarchy persists through the ban that claim to expel it and how it further hinders the prospect of equality for French Muslim …show more content…
The use of “ostentatious” or “visible” was debated but in the end legislators chose “conspicuous.” But in proposing the use of “ostentatious” or “visible,” the French republic revealed the way they approached Muslim modesty. According to Scott, “Muslim modesty is taken to be sexually aberrant by French observers, who condemn it not only as different but as somehow excessive (ostentatious, conspicuous), even perverse” (153). The words “ostentatious” and “conspicuous” had sexual connotations in reference to the display of the body. For the French republic, clothing that covered more were more sexual and so the veil that de-sexualized a female body was highly sexual to the French republic. The approach threatened the French republican system that celebrates “open” sexuality rather than a “closed” one. The unfamiliarity of a “closed” system was disturbing because they could not see something they were so accustomed to