Victoria Travers

Post 8, Week 9: Islam In France

In the chapter one of the book Islam, Europe’s Second Religion, Shireen T. Hunter. talks about the background of Islam in France.

There where two significant movements that led Muslims to immigrate into European cultures. The first was the migration of laborers and their families to fill low wedge jobs. This occurred in the 1950’s to 1970’s when the economy downturned and forced the immigration to the states. The second movement was after the end of the cold war; this was caused by the economic insecurities and conflict in their home countries, which led them to flea and migrate to Western Europe. These movements led to what Shireen T. Hunter calls failures of integration.

Zemni and Parker explain the “failure of integration” of Muslims in Europe of reasons. The first reason that European segregate Muslims into a different category then themselves. “…As a failure to adapt styles and practices of daily life considered compatible with the more of hegemonic national cultures,” (Hunter, 2002). An example of this would be that in 1970 “others” referred to a number of different guest workers from different countries like Turkey and Morocco. Today the “others” group are all Muslims. Migrants, whose “problems” had been seen as a consequence of their low socioeconomic status during decades, were perceived as “culturally different” (Hunter, 2002). The other reason explained to be a contributing factor of “failure of integration” is the lack of successful immigrants in European society. This attributes to the failure of conforming to the European norm of the culture.

The French and Islamic gender system is very different in what they believe in specifically sexuality. The French believe in freedom of expression and feel the veil is hindering them to express their freedom. “…The French system celebrates sex and sexuality as free of social and political risk,” (Scott, 2007).

The French are very passionate about their human rights, regardless of religion, background, sexual orientation, etc. That is why the headscarves are being seen as oppressive because it doesn’t give women the ability to show their bodies in a way that a non-Muslim French woman would. Scott argues that in France, wearing a headscarf devalues a woman’s identity because she is not validated by other men (and women) who can see her for her sexuality. In the Muslim viewpoint of headscarves and modesty, sexuality is an issue that influences political and social interactions, so by using a closed policy, the reactions and effects of sex can be minimized.

“It is a recognition of the threat sex poses for society and politics,” (Scott, 2007). Muslim women wear veils to stray the need to sexualize woman as well as men. The women who wear headscarves view them to be signified as unavailable.

The Islamic headscarf poses a challenge to the French republic’s ideal of “abstract individualism” and “laïcité”. This is further explained the book Politics of the Veil by Joan Wallach Scott. She says, “ The French system of gender was offered as not only the best but the only acceptable, way to organize relations between the sexes. Those who did not conform to it were by definition inferior and therefore could never be fully French. The issue of covered or unconverted sexuality … gave the headscarf affair both its resonance and its intensity,” (Scott, 2007). The headscarf is seen by many as a threat to Western culture because it is viewed as a contradiction to Western democratic values.

References:

Scott, Joan W. The Politics of the Veil. Princeton University Press, 2007. Print.

Shireen, Hunter T. Islam, Europe’s Second Religion. Westport: Praeger, 2002. Print.null