France denied citizenship to a Moroccan woman who wears a niqab because
She has adopted a radical practice of her religion, incompatible with essential values of the French community, particularly the principle of equality of the sexes
The government commissioner reporting on her interviews with social services prior to the decision said
“She lives in total submission to her male relatives. She seems to find this normal, and the idea of challenging it has never crossed her mind.”
But… if, in the view of the French government, it’s a problem that she’s being oppressed by men, then how is it a good idea to punish her for being oppressed by men, and not the men who oppress her? Her husband was never denied citizenship, after all. Not that I think that would have been a good idea either. You get people to accept your values by convincing them to, or rather teaching them how, not by shutting them out of that possibility altogether.
Post a Comment