French set to impose uniform dress code

Catholic New Times, Feb 8, 2004 by Reuel S. Amdur

On December 17, French President Jacques Chirac announced that legislation would be introduced in the French National Assembly to prohibit the wearing of religious garb such as the Muslim scarf, the yarmulke and its Muslim equivalent, and large crosses. Small crosses, Stars of David, and equivalent Muslim symbols will be permitted.

The first thing that came to mind about this pronouncement was the current situation in Quebec, where I live. All signs and advertising in a language other than French (that means English, generally) must be no more than half the size of the French, and there are enforcers who go around with tape measures to issue citations for infractions of the regulations. Chirac and the French National Assembly have not yet decided how small is small so far as religious paraphernalia are concerned, but undoubtedly the tape measures will be smaller than those for the store signs in Quebec.

The second thought I had was with regard to my friend. I'll call her Rajaa. She is something of a feminist and an activist, and she dresses in a fashion that matches. It was not always so. She once showed me her driver's licence, before her adoption of Western style. The photo was of someone dressed in a garment that covered her head to toe with only the face showing much like an old-fashioned nun's habit.

Why did she change? She changed because there was no pressure on her from the society around her to continue to follow the old world practice. She changed because she found the Muslim dress code of Lebanon to be inconsistent with her increasingly Western outlook. She changed because she felt the weight of the garb to be unbearable for feminist, egalitarian shoulders.

When Rajaa went back to Lebanon to visit family, she continued to wear Western dress. Relatives prevailed upon her to put a little scarf on her head, but she refused, much to their humiliation. Again, clothing was part of her personal identity, this time clothing more in keeping with her values.

Chirac wants people in the private sector to enforce a dress code similar to that to be introduced in the schools. It is not hard to imagine what would have happened if Rajaa had encountered such policies in the world around her. This strong-willed woman would have fought, kicking and screaming, to insist on her right to do things her way. The Muslim garb was part of her identity, not an effort to flaunt her religion. She is not in fact religious. To force her to remove it would have been the equivalent of stripping her.

There is a fable by Lafontaine in which the sun and the wind have a contest to see which one can remove a man's coat. The wind began first. It blew against the coat, trying to tear it off the man, but the harder it blew and the colder it got the tighter the man wrapped it around him. The wind gave up.

Then it was the sun's turn. The sun smiled on the man and gave him warmth. Soon the man loosened it, and then he took it off.

The fable talks about what works. Another issue is what is right. The slogan of the French Revolution was Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite. The French still inscribe these words on their coins. What kind of liberty is it to force people to abandon their sacred symbols? Does equality translate into uniformity?

Opinion polls show that 69 per cent of respondents favor Chirac's approach. The French Teacher's Union thinks otherwise, fearing what will happen to their Muslim students. Rather than aiding in social integration, this new legislation is bound to produce serious conflicts that are entirely unnecessary.

--Reuel S. Amdur is a freelance writer from Val-des-Monts, Que.