{"id":35261,"date":"2023-10-16T01:19:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-16T01:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=35261"},"modified":"2023-10-31T13:42:06","modified_gmt":"2023-10-31T13:42:06","slug":"french-schools-ban-on-abayas-and-headscarves-is-supposedly-about-secularism-%e2%88%92-but-it-sends-a-powerful-message-about-who-belongs-in-french-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/french-schools-ban-on-abayas-and-headscarves-is-supposedly-about-secularism-%e2%88%92-but-it-sends-a-powerful-message-about-who-belongs-in-french-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"French schools\u2019 ban on abayas and headscarves is supposedly about secularism \u2212 but it sends a powerful message about who \u2018belongs\u2019 in French\u00a0culture"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Carol Ferrara<\/a>, Emerson College<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

France\u2019s decision to ban public school students from wearing the abaya \u2013 a long dress or robe<\/a> popular among women in certain Muslim cultures \u2013 and the male equivalent, the qamis, has faced criticism<\/a> since Aug. 27, 2023, when the country\u2019s education minister announced the new rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet polls suggest that more than 80% of the French population supports the ban<\/a>, as does the country\u2019s highest court: The Conseil d’\u00c9tat has upheld<\/a> the challenged ban<\/a> twice \u2013 most recently on Sept. 25, 2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Education Minister Gabriel Attal cited \u201cla\u00efcit\u00e9,\u201d or French secularism, as the reason for the ban. Legislation passed in 2004 prohibits \u201costentatious religious symbols\u201d from public schools, including large crosses and Jewish head coverings, though its main target has been Muslim headscarves<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Debate over the abaya, however, gets to the heart of debates over la\u00efcit\u00e9<\/a>. Many critics argue that the abaya is a cultural garment<\/a>, not a religious one, and should be allowed under la\u00efcit\u00e9. In practice, though, anything associated with Muslim cultures tends to be considered \u201creligious.\u201d Catholic traditions, meanwhile, are often considered \u201ccultural\u201d \u2013 and therefore compatible with la\u00efcit\u00e9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My ethnographic research<\/a> in French schools, where secularism debates are particularly heated, suggests that the abaya ban and the earlier \u201cheadscarf law\u201d aren\u2019t really about defending la\u00efcit\u00e9. Rather, they protect a particular version of French identity \u2013 an identity infused with Catholic culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"People<\/a>
Staff from a school on the outskirts of Paris protest against the government\u2019s abaya ban on Sept. 6, 2023. Mohamad Salaheldin Abdelg Alsayed\/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Catho-la\u00efcit\u00e9\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Despite its reputation as a staunchly secular country, France has a deep and tangled relationship with Catholicism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recent studies show that only about 1 in 3 French people ages 18-59 consider themselves Catholic<\/a> \u2013 whether in a religious or cultural sense \u2013 and weekly Mass attendance is uncommon<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet the faith still has a powerful influence upon French culture. Attending church for holidays, funerals, weddings and baptisms remains commonplace. Crosses, church bells<\/a> and public church processions<\/a> are considered ordinary aspects of French culture, despite the official emphasis on la\u00efcit\u00e9 as a unifying pillar<\/a> of national identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am convinced that the Catholic sap (of France) must still, and forever, contribute to the life of our nation,\u201d President Emmanuel Macron said in a 2018 speech to bishops<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By contrast, headscarves, abayas, minarets<\/a>, the call to prayer<\/a>, halal food and Islamic prayer in public spaces<\/a> are often perceived as threats to French identity. Moreover, these get flagged as religious symbols, putting them in conflict with la\u00efcit\u00e9 in ways that Catholic symbols avoid<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Catholicism\u2019s intimate relationship with secularism in France is sometimes referred to as \u201ccatho-la\u00efcit\u00e9,\u201d referring to how Catholicism, la\u00efcit\u00e9 and Frenchness become almost interchangeable. Rather than neutral secularism, \u201cla\u00efcit\u00e9\u201d can represent a particular, Catholic-infused French identity that views religious or cultural \u201cothers\u201d with suspicion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Santa Claus in class<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

These contradictions are especially evident around Catholic holidays. In the lead-up to Christmas, schools often celebrate with decorations, concerts and even visits from Santa Claus \u2013 activities defended as cultural rather than religious. My 3-year-old son\u2019s holiday concert in a public preschool just outside Paris included \u201cO Christmas Tree,\u201d \u201cLittle Father Christmas\u201d and \u201cSilent Night,\u201d but no songs from other religious traditions despite many of his classmates\u2019 Muslim heritage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Half<\/a>
People dressed as Santa Claus attend a paddleboarding parade on the Ill river in Strasbourg, France, on Dec. 3, 2022. Sebastien Bozon\/AFP via Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Controversies stemming from holiday activities point back to this idea of \u201ccatho-la\u00efcit\u00e9\u201d: Traditions rooted in Christian culture are more likely to be considered cultural and thus compatible with both secularism and \u201cFrenchness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2018, an elementary school director in southern France canceled all Christmas-related activities<\/a> to adhere to the \u201crules of la\u00efcit\u00e9\u201d after a parent expressed disapproval. Community backlash was so fervent that the national ministry of education stepped in to intervene and reinstated the ostensibly cultural activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More recently, a mayor in northern France issued an official authorization for Santa Claus<\/a> to park on rooftops, publicly declaring that Santa would be \u201cwithin the law\u201d during his visit that season. Local public elementary school students were later surprised with a video of Santa Claus and his elves depositing gifts at their school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fish, fowl and halal<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Discrepancies between how la\u00efcit\u00e9 applies to different religious traditions do not emerge just at holidays. French school cafeterias often serve fish on Fridays, a Catholic tradition<\/a>, but debates have raged over offering halal food or other substitutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2015, a town in central France decided to stop providing substitutes for pork, which is forbidden in Muslim and Jewish tradition, in its school cafeterias. Officials argued that providing exceptions had impinged upon secular neutrality. In 2020, the case went to the top court<\/a>, where judges declared that schools were not obligated under la\u00efcit\u00e9 to provide alternative menu options for religious diets \u2013 though they added that doing so would not contradict la\u00efcit\u00e9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
A placard at a 2019 protest in Toulouse reads, \u2018France: it\u2019s you and me.\u2019 Alain Pitton\/NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The following year, a middle school in Bordeaux began providing occasional halal meals, as well as nonhalal alternatives. Nonetheless, the move sparked significant protest from local parent groups that lamented the \u201cflouting of the principle of la\u00efcit\u00e9<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other options<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Families seeking alternative education options often turn to France\u2019s state-funded private schools, which are allowed to offer optional religious education but must otherwise follow the national curriculum and accept students of any faith. Yet here, too, the playing field is uneven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are more than 7,000 Catholic schools<\/a> to choose from, and at some of them, upward of 70% of the student body is Muslim<\/a>. Options for state-funded private Muslim schools, on the other hand \u2013 a focus of my research<\/a> \u2013 are sparse. This is due, in part, to challenges that Muslim schools face<\/a> when applying for permits and funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Families can also choose from the approximately 100 independent Muslim schools<\/a>, run without government funding. However, these face constant scrutiny<\/a> compared with the roughly 200 independent Catholic schools<\/a> \u2013 some of which do not support la\u00efcit\u00e9<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a>
People in front of a school in Trappes, France, protest the abaya ban on Sept. 8, 2023. Mohamad Salaheldin Abdelg Alsayed\/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Future consequences<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It is not clear how the abaya ban will affect students. On Sept. 4, 2023, only about 300 students out of France\u2019s 12 million<\/a> came to school wearing an abaya, and only 67 refused to remove it, according to the education ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2004 headscarf law, however, seems to have harmed Muslim girls\u2019 educational success. According to one key study, the gap in secondary school completion rates between Muslim and non-Muslim women doubled among those who were teenagers when the ban was passed<\/a> because of higher dropout rates. Moreover, the study\u2019s authors argue that this disparity increased the employment gap<\/a> between Muslim and non-Muslim women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking a closer look at France\u2019s education system, I argue, shows that the abaya ban isn\u2019t really about la\u00efcit\u00e9. If it were, Santa and Christmas songs would be relegated to the private sphere, and cafeteria menus would equally accommodate common religious diets. Instead, Catholic symbols are often embraced as integral to French culture, while Muslim symbols are scrutinized or barred \u2013 sending students a powerful message about what it means to be \u201cFrench.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carol Ferrara<\/a>, Anthropologist & Assistant Professor, Department of Marketing Communication, Emerson College<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Carol Ferrara, Emerson College France\u2019s decision to ban public school students from wearing the abaya \u2013 a long dress or robe popular among women in certain Muslim cultures \u2013 and the male equivalent, the qamis, has faced criticism since Aug. 27, 2023, when the country\u2019s education minister announced the new rule. Yet polls suggest that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":35262,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[292,2450],"tags":[1743,14713,5750,1828,14714,10983,6610,1942,5640],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35261"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35261"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35390,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35261\/revisions\/35390"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}