The Arrogant Eye and the French Prohibitions of the Veil

Bibliographic Data

ID12868271
AuthorsDaniel Alejandro Restrepo (corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume18
Issue2
Pages159-174
Publication date2020-01-29
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
Venueethic@ - An international Journal for Moral Philosophy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1677-2954 • E-ISSN: 1677-2954
PublisherUniversidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.5007/1677-2954.2019v18n2p159
OpenAlexW3003942463
LanguageEN
References cited8

Evânia Reich presents the argument that the veil laws in France—the banning of the full-face coverings in public and the banning of the headscarf in public schools—are consistent with the emancipatory project of French Laïcité. According to this argument, the veils that Muslim women wear are symbols of their oppression, whereas French education seeks to liberate each individual and Laïcité serves as a bulwark against the creeping oppressive influence of religion. Unveiling Muslim women, then, is an act of emancipation. In this essay, I argue that the view of French secularism as an emancipatory project to free women of the oppressive mechanism of the veil is an example of what Marilyn Frye calls the “arrogant eye.” In this essay, I offer an alternative approach on the veil following Frye’s notion of the “loving eye.”

Argument (complex analysis · Emancipation · Face (sociological concept · Oppression · Political science · Politics · Public sphere · Secularism · Social science · Sociology · Gender, Security, and Conflict · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Political Philosophy and Ethics

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