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How do you lot feel about this? Personally, I think it's ridiculous. Even if you feel it's "oppressive" to wear a niqab, it's just as oppressive to force someone not to wear one. I understand that France is a highly secular country but at the same time, does it honestly matter if someone wears a veil?

What are you guys' thoughts on this? I'd be interested to hear what French people's take on this is.

I suppose it is a bit of a security risk, but still I don't like the idea of it. It's like saying someone can't wear a mask if they want to because it's a security risk. :/

I think its ridiculous,they should mind their own business.I mean where is the relation between the President of France which runs a country and a "Niqab..",people would understand what am i talking about because its "Simple Common Sense.."

There is the safety risks aspect, of course. It is one of the reasons, but not the only one.

What I'm going to say is not my own opinion. But as I live in France and had many occasions to discuss with friends or people in the street, I might be able to light you up because there are things that you cannot know if you don't live here and that are part of the problem.

Most people won't admit it, but the truth is that many French people are not at ease with French muslims (and muslims who live in France in general). They think muslims are being too ... intrusive and have many claims compared to other communities. Moreover, some muslims in subburbs don't behave well (there are really lots of problems) and because of that, many people think all muslims are like this, even if that's stupid.
But try to understand : France isn't a muslim country and there weren't many muslims in France until recently, so French people are not used to see people wearing Niqab. And as most people here consider face veil and such as a symbol of women's submission, they are not pleased to see so many of them.
Many old French people don't feel at home anymore. They feel like France is turning into Arabia (that's what they say) and they don't like that. What they think is that it's ok for immigrants to come in France, but they must try to integrate and not try to recreate their country in France. The problem is, many muslims who were born in France don't seem to be willing to integrate. They say they are not French and they say that they are going to "islamize" France. Imagine what French people think when they hear that =S
And because muslims are being too demanding, many people here are being scared and started to vote for "Le Front National", the most extremist and dangerous party in France whose goal is to throw all muslims, jewishes and foreigners out of France.
And to prevent that, the Government has to calm down people with that kind of measure, because people are getting really irritated and if it continues like this, Le Front National will win the next elections and the situation will become really bad.

Again, I'm not saying all of this is my opinion. I have muslims friends and obviously I have absolutely no problem with them. But I am forced to notice that's what most people here think =S

Well Minaret is architecture, we dont have many Mosques in America with them. Its not very important. But covering is in the Qur'an and most Muslims follow it.

And the way you described the French, reminds me of racist Rednecks where I live. Which says a lot about how socially 'forward' Europe really is.

Haha, yeah we (my husband and I) planned to take the Eurostar from London - > Bruxelles then - - > France. xD And thats still the plan really.

I understand why some people are concerned, but I don't think that banning the niqab is really the best way to go.

You have two different ideas about what "equality" is, and two different cultures. You're not going to want to "force" integration or "force" people to be equal, especially since one culture's views of equality may differ from the other culture's. Forcing it is only going to cause resentment on both sides. Side A is going to get more defensive and less willing to integrate, and side B is going to react accordingly and there's going to be all sorts of harmful nativist backlash. ><

If a woman doesn't want to wear the niqab but her parents are going to force her to and harass her through ought her adult life for it, then yeah, she shouldn't be forced to. But if she does want to wear it, then go ahead and let her. One person might argue against it and say it makes her submissive, but she might counter and say it prevents her from being objectified by men and actually protects her.

As for the security thing...maybe there should be some extra security protocol made regarding the niqab. A lot of people probably wouldn't like that though and would shout about discrimination, but you know, what needs to be done for the sake of security just needs to be done. It shouldn't need to come to the point where Muslims/people who choose to wear the niqab or related dress (or any group of people) feel or are specifically targeted, but some people just screw it up for everyone else...I wish that didn't happen. ><

Racism is everywhere, and achieving peaceful and mutually respectful relations between two different cultures is no easy task. It's not going to get solved right away, if ever. Sometimes it takes a while, "a while" meaning over a hundred years. Just don't force things to a point where it produces too much friction, and a fire comes after it.

I really don't know much about the cultural differences between a niqab/burqa/etc. Can you fill me in on that?