Acrylic on Canvas 18" x 24"
In spring of 2022, there was so much attention, and rightfully so, to the Taliban instituting a law requiring female broadcasters to wear a burka on air. At the same time, the French Supreme Court reinforced their law that wearing a burkini in a public pool was illegal. since 200, there has been a law in France outlawing the headdress in public places. While the focus is only on the governments that enforce covering, laws passed outlawing them are equally egregious. Both rules go against the very values ( Islam and “Western” liberalism) that those enforcing these inane laws claim to represent. There is no compulsion for women to wear hijab in Islam. And what kind of “free” society bans hijabs? Not too long after I painted this, the US Supreme Court decided to follow the trend of removing more self determination and choice from women.
March 2nd, 2022 - France’s highest appeals court affirms the law banning Muslim women from wearing headscarves in government buildings. The law extends to public officials like teachers, police officers, and firefighters. The appeal that was rejected was filed by Sarah Asmeta, a French lawyer who is not allowed to wear her headscarf in court anymore.
May 12th, 2022 - The Taliban passes a law mandating women be covered from head to toe in public. Under the ruling, male family members are subject to punishment if a woman in their family violates the law.
Both laws go against the very values those imposing them purport to represent. A society that forces secularism on their citizens cannot be considered a free country. They are as hypocritical as those that eliminate a woman’s choice to cover their hair in the name of a religion that does not explicitly mandate it.
Both are examples of the global trend in 2022 to minimize a woman’s self determination.
Both are draconian. Both are idiotic. Yet only one gets global attention for being so.
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