To the Editor:
Re “French Towns Battle to Ban Muslim Women’s Beach Attire” (news article, Aug. 18):
This article is frankly appalling. France is essentially telling Muslim women that their desire to cover their bodies, dress modestly and be free of the “male gaze” is against Western values.
In the name of “laïcité,” or secularism, France is stripping women of a fundamental human right: the right to cover their bodies as they choose. Women of all faiths should always be free to choose how much of their bodies they cover. This choice should come from the individual, and must never be imposed from above.
In the name of secularism and with a false sense of upholding human rights, France is instead continuing to trample on a woman’s basic right to choose how to dress and how to cover—choices that are intrinsically linked to women’s rights and dignity.
NADIA QAZI
Chicago
Note from KBJ: Feminists have been telling us for decades that a woman who chooses to be a wife, mother, and homemaker is suffering from false consciousness, the remedy for which is a consciousness-raising session. Why are Muslim women who choose to cover their bodies not suffering from false consciousness? Where are the consciousness-raising sessions for Muslim women? O, the contradictions of modern progressivism!
