Skip to content

We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away.

Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you.

Help Now >

What's 'Hijab Day' and why is it causing a 'FREAK OUT' in France?

Free World Class Education
FREE Catholic Classes
'If you believe that all women should have the right to decide what to wear and to expect that their decision is respected ... join us.'

Students from the French university Sciences Po Paris held a Hijab Day to raise awareness of the discrimination and verbal abuse Muslim women face every day - and it went exactly how you might expect.

Highlights

By Kenya Sinclair (CALIFORNIA NETWORK)
CALIFORNIA NETWORK (https://www.youtube.com/c/californianetwork)
4/21/2016 (7 years ago)

Published in Europe

Keywords: France, Hijab Day, students, Muslim, veil

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - With the influx of Muslim migrants and refugees, more and more hijabs have been popping up across Europe. The recent terror attacks haven't helped raise opinions of non-terrorist refugees, most of whom are often discriminated against and verbally abused.

Even in the United States, Muslim women wearing hijabs are often considered oppressed. Despite several explanations of Muslim women sharing their decision - yes, it is a decision, not a mandatory act for most Muslim denominations - is for the sake of modesty, the general consensus remains the same: Any woman in a hijab is being oppressed by the men under the guise of religion.


According to The Washington Post, Laurence Rossignol, a French minister for women's rights, recently said women who voluntarily wear hijabs are akin to "negroes who supported slavery."

Students at the French university took the discrimination, assumptions and outright ignorance of the women's decision - and the religion itself - and took the opportunity to organize a Hijab Day at school. The event was meant to support Muslim women's decisions to wear veils.

Organizers posted on Facebook, "If you believe that all women should have the right to decide what to wear and to expect that their decision is respected ... join us."


The response was immediate.

Thousands commented with both support and hate. The idea of Hijab Day even reached French philosopher and writer Bernard-Henri Levy, who tweeted, "Hijab Day at Sc. Pr [Sciences Po]. So when is there going to be a sharia day? Or a stoning day? Or a slavery day?"

While several continued to discriminate behind the safety of their computer screens, others supported the idea. Politique'elles, a feminist group on the campus wrote: "Whatever they wear, whether a miniskirt or a veil, (women) are criticized. Feminism must remain universal to defend all women, independent of their religion, origin or social class."

The university allowed the event to take place, but released a statement on Twitter to explain its allowance of the event "should not be interpreted as support."

Meanwhile, organizers left a simple message on the event page reading: "We believe a singly symbolic action such as covering our hair for a day in class, in the street, etc, still allows us to take conscience of the looks and - well, at least an impression of the experience of stigmatization that a lot of veiled women in France go through for too many years."

Light Your Free Payer Candle for a departed loved one

What is Palm Sunday?

Live on March 20, 2024 @ 10am PDT

---

The California Network is the Next Wave in delivery of information and entertainment on pop culture, social trends, lifestyle, entertainment, news, politics and economics. We are hyper-focused on one audience, YOU, the connected generation. JOIN US AS WE REDEFINE AND REVOLUTIONIZE THE EVER-CHANGING MEDIA LANDSCAPE.

We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away.

Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you.

Help Now >

Join the Movement
When you sign up below, you don't just join an email list - you're joining an entire movement for Free world class Catholic education.

Lent logo
Saint of the Day logo

Catholic Online Logo

Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. All materials contained on this site, whether written, audible or visual are the exclusive property of Catholic Online and are protected under U.S. and International copyright laws, © Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. Any unauthorized use, without prior written consent of Catholic Online is strictly forbidden and prohibited.

Catholic Online is a Project of Your Catholic Voice Foundation, a Not-for-Profit Corporation. Your Catholic Voice Foundation has been granted a recognition of tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Federal Tax Identification Number: 81-0596847. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law.