Full-body swimsuit ban in France

A burkini (full-bodied swimsuit) clad woman on a beach

Once again, French authorities (like authorities in other countries) wage ‘war on terror’ by waging war on women’s rights to dress in whatever way they want.

Sometimes, they wage war on women for wearing miniskirts; sometimes on women for wearing maxiskirts; sometimes on women for wearing trousers; sometimes on women for wearing headscarves.

Now, yet another war.

From Agence France Presse:

Burkinis banned on France’s Cannes beaches by mayor

11 August 2016 • 9:48pm

The mayor of Cannes has banned the wearing of burkinis – full-body swimsuits –

‘Burkini‘ is not really a good name for these swimsuits. It alludes to ‘burqa’, often used wrongly in Western countries for face-covering women’s clothes in Afghanistan. These should be called chadaris, not burqas. Burqas are rare clothes for upper class Pakistani women.

‘Burkinis’ do not cover faces, and so are not only unlike real burqas, but also unlike chadaris.

on the beaches of the French Riviera resort famous for its annual film festival, officials said on Thursday.

The film festival where women were refused entry for not wearing high heel shoes. Another example of denying women the right to wear whatever they feel comfortable in.

Mayor David Lisnard signed off on the ruling that “access to beaches and for swimming is banned to anyone who does not have (bathing apparel) which respects good customs and secularism”, which is a founding principle of the French republic.

“Beachwear which ostentatiously displays religious affiliation, when France and places of worship are currently the target of terrorist attacks, is liable to create risks of disrupting public order (crowds, scuffles etc) which it is necessary to prevent,” it says. …

It is as ridiculous and oppressive to associate full-body swimwear with jihadi terrorism, as it would be to associate a women wearing a miniskirt with some conspiracy to violently overthrow some government to replace it with ‘Marxist-feminist’ rule.

Thierry Migoule, head of municipal services for the town, sought to clarify the ruling’s intent.

“We are not talking about banning the wearing of religious symbols on the beach … but ostentatious clothing which refers to an allegiance to terrorist movements which are at war with us,” he said. …

At the Olympic long distance swiming at the Rio Olympics, all women wore smimsuits covering their legs.

The Egyptian women’s beach volleyball team at the Olympics in Brazil wear ‘burkinis’. Yet, NATO countries do not protest about that to the military regime in Egypt; their military allies. Again, if one is so ridiculous to associate ‘burkinis’ with Al Qaeda or ISIS, then it would not be surprising if the same or similar ridiculous authorities would see a woman in shorts or with bare shoulders as a declaration of bloody ‘Maoist people’s war’ or something.

Islamic dress is a contentious issue in France, where the full-face veil is banned in public places. …

Earlier this week a water park in nearby Marseille cancelled plans to host a private event for Muslim women wearing burkinis after protests from politicians.

Look at recent history. Less than a century ago, women at European beaches were arrested for supposedly being ‘indecent’ for wearing anything less than full-body swimwear. Now, the pendulum of authorities’ lunacy has swung from one extreme to the other extreme.

From Associated Press:

A City Hall official said the ordinance, in effect for August, could apply to burkini-style swimsuits. Violators risk a 38 euro ($42) fine.

Middle-aged white men like me have no right to tell women not to wear the burkini. Whether the ban on this modest swimwear is truly a contemporary expression of the French tradition of secularism, I cannot know. What I do know is that it is both wrong and counterproductive: here.

The Cannes Burkini Ban Undermines Freedom Of Muslim Women: here.