Headscarves and Paris 2012

[Vince]

I believe the 2012 Olympics is Paris' to lose, and now that the French National Assembly has voted to ban Muslim headscarves. Will any Muslim IOC member will see this as a slap at their freedoms, and not vote for Paris?

If Paris still prevails, maybe El Guerrouj will give a Muslim Power salute on the victory stand.

[Pego]

Re: Headscarves and Paris 2012

Today in the International Herald Tribune on this topic. I am pretty sure no registration is required.
http://www.iht.com/articles/128742.html

[No Name]

Re: Headscarves and Paris 2012

I hope this doesn't help France's cause. This is a terrible case of political correctness gone wrong.

[palladium]

Re: Headscarves and Paris 2012

>I hope this doesn't help France's cause. This is a terrible case of political
>correctness gone wrong.

actually this is the exact opposite of political correctness. political correctness would be letting muslim's wear headscarves or sikh's walk around with daggers. what the french government is trying to do is assimilate everybody, the exact opposite of political correctness.

but to the point, will headscarves ruin their chances? I sure hope not. any muslim that would vote against france for that reason alone is in my "muslim" opinion very ignorant. in addition, having been in paris for the world cup in 2000, i've got to say they would be very capable of hosting such an event and would look forward to seeing it there.

[Asterix]

Re: Headscarves and Paris 2012

Those muslim countries who mandate headscarve wearing for their females are not the ones that are sending female athletes to international championships. How many female competitors has Saudi Arabia sent of late? Hassiba Boulmerka and several Morrocan women seem to have done well for themselves without feeling the need to cover up to race.

[No Name]

Re: Headscarves and Paris 2012

"actually this is the exact opposite of political correctness. political correctness would be letting muslim's wear headscarves or sikh's walk around with daggers. what the french government is trying to do is assimilate everybody, the exact opposite of political correctness."


No, it is political correctness in that one of the goals is to try to make everyone comfortable and not threatened by the religious identity of others.

However, I acknowledge that the argument that this is not political correctness could be made as well.

[dl]

Re: Headscarves and Paris 2012

It should be noted that the majority of French muslims are in favor of the ban.

What's interesting is that France's decision sparked protests in countries where protests are often repressed by the government.

Is France's decision the best way to deal with the issue? Perhaps not. But remember that they have a fierce belief in secularism. Not just separation of church and state, but separation of church from the state.

[palladium]

Re: Headscarves and Paris 2012

>"actually this is the exact opposite of political correctness. political
>correctness would be letting muslim's wear headscarves or sikh's walk around
>with daggers. what the french government is trying to do is assimilate
>everybody, the exact opposite of political correctness."


No, it is
>political correctness in that one of the goals is to try to make everyone
>comfortable and not threatened by the religious identity of others.
>

If in fact that were one of the goals of the ban, you would be correct. But it is not. The goals of this ban are not up for interpretation, especially when the french government has clearly stated what those goals are: fears of immigration and a lack of "integration"; worries about islamic extremism... Those goals do not coincide with political correctness. Political correctness does not mandate "integration". But don't take my word for it, read a few of the articles in the link provided:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3328277.stm

[Realist]

Re: Headscarves and Paris 2012

If it wuz just Muslim scarves I could see a backlash, but aren't they officially banning symbols of all religions? (even if enforcement is unlikely to be equally employed)

[az2]

Re: Headscarves and Paris 2012

realist has it TOTALLY correct, the french are banning objects of religious symbolism...

so you could ne muslim, hindu, christian or jew...

the ban applies to overt symbols, BBC listed specific items, I'll have to look it up again

[Pego]

Re: Headscarves and Paris 2012

"Large crosses" are banned. No definition of what is "large". Skull caps are banned.

[Vince]

Re: Headscarves and Paris 2012

>the french are banning objects of religious symbolism<

This seems even more intolerant.

[az2]

Re: Headscarves and Paris 2012

I would suspect, overt dispays of ones beliefs, can offend those who do NOT accept those beliefs.

I'd hate to impose my "religious fantasies" on others by overtly displaying the relics of my belief.

[kuha]

Re: Headscarves and Paris 2012

Palladium has it right. This decision is precisely the opposite of what we understand as "political correctness." Instead of "recognizing and celebrating" the glorious "diversity" of cultural backgrounds/expression, this decision represents a desire to preserve a certain character or quality of the existing culture--it is deeply (perhaps even radically) conservative in that it seeks to resist cultural change. That said, not everything defined as "conservative" is automatically wrong...

[palladium]

Re: Headscarves and Paris 2012

>Palladium has it right. This decision is precisely the opposite of what we
>understand as "political correctness." Instead of "recognizing and
>celebrating" the glorious "diversity" of cultural backgrounds/expression,
>this decision represents a desire to preserve a certain character or quality of
>the existing culture--it is deeply (perhaps even radically) conservative in
>that it seeks to resist cultural change. That said, not everything defined as
>"conservative" is automatically wrong...


agreed Kuha. not only is conservative not automatically wrong, but I dare say (again, in my "muslim" opinion), that this will be a good thing for the muslim community. I'm about as leftist as they come, but the muslim community really needs to take a good look in the mirror and modernize. Maybe these small strides of headscarf removal will lead to an increased participation for muslim women in athletics... i know it's a stretch, but we can hope.

as an aside, there may be some let-up for the sikh's in France as reported by bbc:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3483409.stm