French Dressing

Race, Gender, and the Hijab Story

Bibliographic Data

ID4414653
AuthorsJudith Ezekiel (corresponding author)
Year2006
Volume32
Issue2
Pages256
Publication date2006-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueFeminist Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0046-3663 • E-ISSN: 2153-3873
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/20459086
OpenAlexW4251461684
LanguageEN
Citations received11

Part of a special section on the debate in France over the hijab, or headscarf, worn by Muslim women. The writer traces the history of the headscarf controversy in France, which reached its zenith in 2004 when legislators approved a law banning conspicuous signs of religion in public schools. The controversy highlights the seeming near-consensus in French political culture around a resuscitated national identity and model for humanity represented by a universalist, secular, republican France. The hijab has been constructed as a serious threat to this model, and the ban on wearing it has been presented as a bulwark against both Islamic fundamentalism and "American-style" multiculturalism. Despite its universalist pretensions, the current model of French identity is nationalized, even nationalistic, and it serves to marginalize ethnic, racial, and religious minorities, as well as those who merely refuse to accept its "universality

Art · Race (biology · Sociology · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Gender Studies · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub