My senior thesis was on women and Iran (from the time of the Shah until the rise of the Ayatollah Khomeini; a large portion of which was on education and health). Needless to say, my work definitely had a lasting impact on me. I found it difficult to study.
Emotionally, I'm with you. As far as convincing girls to buck the practice on their own, it's simply not done in the culture. That's the frustrating part. And there are claims that a large number of Muslim girls have privately asked for the ban to be enforced.
And you're right, Hyper-tolerance has created problems. France may be heavily influenced by the results of Holland's attempt to embrace multiculturalism. It's being deemed semi- disastrous; it's led to increased ethic separatism and all of the social problems that go with it. The French ideology has always been thus; adopt our values and assimilate. They see the great American melting pot as the antithesis of their beliefs, as a threat. And their secularism has a long history - they ripped the crucifixes down from classrooms a century ago too.
Here, it appears that English Canada has been very successful with supporting both cultural integration and preservation; however - hop over into Quebec and there's suddenly a form of rabid cultural preservation on the loose and its ready to censure any and all who oppose it. (It may come as no surprise that head scarfs were an issue in Montreal not too long ago.)
No, religious persecution isn't the way to go. However France is experiencing a rise in Islamic fundamenatalism and has been facing a number of social challenges that are frustrating and trying. The head scarf is, unfortunately, the visible target. That's what they're going after. Honestly, I don't know that this is the best way to handle the issue, or the only one at that, but I do feel that France has reached a point where doing nothing is no longer an option.
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branchandroot
Re: I agree
Date: 2004-01-28 07:10 pm (UTC)My senior thesis was on women and Iran (from the time of the Shah until the rise of the Ayatollah Khomeini; a large portion of which was on education and health). Needless to say, my work definitely had a lasting impact on me. I found it difficult to study.
Emotionally, I'm with you. As far as convincing girls to buck the practice on their own, it's simply not done in the culture. That's the frustrating part. And there are claims that a large number of Muslim girls have privately asked for the ban to be enforced.
And you're right, Hyper-tolerance has created problems. France may be heavily influenced by the results of Holland's attempt to embrace multiculturalism. It's being deemed semi- disastrous; it's led to increased ethic separatism and all of the social problems that go with it. The French ideology has always been thus; adopt our values and assimilate. They see the great American melting pot as the antithesis of their beliefs, as a threat. And their secularism has a long history - they ripped the crucifixes down from classrooms a century ago too.
Here, it appears that English Canada has been very successful with supporting both cultural integration and preservation; however - hop over into Quebec and there's suddenly a form of rabid cultural preservation on the loose and its ready to censure any and all who oppose it. (It may come as no surprise that head scarfs were an issue in Montreal not too long ago.)
No, religious persecution isn't the way to go. However France is experiencing a rise in Islamic fundamenatalism and has been facing a number of social challenges that are frustrating and trying. The head scarf is, unfortunately, the visible target. That's what they're going after. Honestly, I don't know that this is the best way to handle the issue, or the only one at that, but I do feel that France has reached a point where doing nothing is no longer an option.