About the recent surge of Islamophobia in France

As a French living in a Muslim country, I have read a lot recently about France’s islamophobia. Friends have messaged me about it ever since Macron has announced his law on religious separatism. I read calls for boycott of French products. 

What has fascinated me most these last few weeks is that the Muslim world does not seem to understand where the French islmaphobia is coming from and specifically what drives the recent surge. I read ridiculous theories according to which the UAE and Saudi Arabia were responsible. Well, aren’t they always responsible for everything, according to some?

I realized that while things were quite obvious to me, maybe it was indeed difficult for people who are not French to read into the recent surge of Islamophobia. 

So here is my attempt to explain.

First, one has to respect the fact that France has gone through not one, but a whole series of deadly terrorist attacks in the last decade, and all of them were carried out by Muslim extremists. If white supremacy or any other extremism had made the headlines with the same regularity, French authorities would certainly also take measures.  

Second, we could say that extremists are extremists, and for a long time, a lot of people have said “pas d’amalgame” (don’t confuse a minority of extremists with the majority of peaceful Muslims) except, at this stage, this position makes you look naive. The roots of the extremism are certainly in the way an increasing number of the Muslim population lives in France, which authorities are partly responsible for. 

France has seen in the last few years the development of behaviors that are extremist social behaviors in the French context. Men who refuse to shake the hand of women, husbands who want their wives to be fully covered, parents who take their children out of the school system because they are not comfortable with the science-based curriculum, entire neighborhoods where you can hardly see a woman without an abaya. This phenomenon which seems to have little to do with religious fervor can no longer be comfortably ignored. Even moderate Muslim leaders seem uncomfortable at the turn this is taking and certainly a leader like Macron can no longer leave this unchecked.

Third, one has to realize that the recent surge of islamophobia goes well beyond the traditional racist circles. Islamophobia is no longer a thing of the far-right wing only. It also touches people who are relatively moderate on the right and even on the left, where people were traditionally Muslim-friendly. 

That last insight certainly says something about one of the not-so-obvious driving forces behind the current surge.

There are a number of factors in the recent surge of islamophobia in France, the terrorist attacks France has faced multiple times play a large role, but in a more subtle way, islamophobia is also a consequence of the MeToo movement. The law Macron has been pushing on religious separatism is part of a bigger movement, which also includes a law against street harassment / catcalling and a change in the labor law to extend paternity leave, because fathers ask for it and also to offset the burden for women of the maternity leave on their employability.  

On the catcalling, I read a comment last week on Twitter which I thought was interesting. Two girls, Arab names, writing in French, commenting on this catcalling. One was saying that you had to admit this catcalling was always from guys of the “community” (meaning people of North African descent), to which the other nodded, adding that les Gaulois (meaning people whose family roots are in France) don’t do this. There is this perception, probably not baseless, that this catcalling is done by young men, probably a minority among the Muslims, but certainly young men within the Muslim community.

For a long time, France has shown leniency towards this kind of macho behavior. Our guilt towards our colonial past might have had something to do with this. The fact the victims of this catcalling are usually not political decision-makers. Also certainly the fact that some Gaulois, older ones but also some younger ones, indulged in other forms of patriarchal behavior. This overarching idea that, you know, “men are men”. 

The MeToo movement has definitely broken patterns there, making men generally more aware of what a mental burden those behaviors can be for women. There is a new generation of French men, which Macron wants to be seen as part of, who is no longer prepared to accept any behavior that might come at the expense of women and his government under the lead of feminist activist Marlene Schiappa has been taking steps in that direction.

The fact that Islam is perceived as a religion favoring gender segregation and gender inequality makes it a target in this political context. Just to give an example, the fact some Muslim families in France cover young girls way before the age of puberty, while it might be marginal, is something that is really rubbing up French society in the wrong way. Macron has made it clear that gender equality is not something France is willing to negotiate on. 

As a French woman living in the Muslim world, I certainly observe all of this. I don’t deny there are unhealthy islamophobic trends in France, I also see how some good intentions are misunderstood but I also see the other side of the coin. And I smile.

There certainly is nothing wrong with Islam, but there certainly would be a lot to comment on when it comes to the way Prophet Mohamed’s teachings are misunderstood by some today, also when it comes to the way some are thumping their chest about Islam while conveniently passing on some of the teachings.  

I am definitely not a scholar of Islam, but the way I see this, Prophet Mohamed was a man who loved women and who understood them. He strove to treat them fairly and he gave them rights. One could consider that he started a reform towards equality and that 14 centuries later, the second arm of that reform is still pending pretty much everywhere.

See, as a French woman, I sometimes wonder how I would feel if I was the kind of citizen who doesn’t get to pass on my nationality to my children while my brother gets to do that, how I would feel if I was told that by law there are certain things I am not allowed to do only because I was born with a certain gender. I don’t think I would take it very well. 

I was in mild shock when I divorced and realized how custody was usually handled in the Muslim world and what it says of the cultural assumptions on gender equality. French law for example does not assume when a couple divorces, that changing the diapers of a toddler is a woman’s job. It also does not assume that educating the mind of a teenager is preferably the job of a man.

It’s not just the laws, it’s also individual behavior. Living in Dubai, and although the UAE is pushing against this, I had more than a fair chance to see what it’s like to be treated in a certain way only because I am a woman, something my years in Europe had not prepared me for. Is a man ever asked in job interviews what his wife does for a living? In the recent months also, more than once, I heard women complain that looking for a job in Dubai now entailed interviews at 10pm in a cafe. Some are quite obviously using the desperation of some female job seekers to their advantage... I hope authorities have a watch on this, and on everything else. 

Going back to my initial topic, I must admit I grinned when I saw where the earliest and the fiercest criticisms against France were coming from.

Allow me to tell you a story, something that happened to me a few years ago. 

I was 38 back then. I had just recently left my husband and I was going through what people commonly call a midlife crisis. You would probably not guess if you saw me, but my entire life, my grandma had led me to think I was fat. My husband also occasionally made a comment in that direction. And so at this specific point in my life, I assigned myself a challenge. I had bought a bikini and I challenged myself to walk down a crowded beach in this bikini only to prove myself that people were not going to point fingers at me for being fat.

So, I did that, I walked down Kite Beach in a bikini on a weekend afternoon. 

Finally, I reached the point I had set as a goal. I honestly felt like a queen. Saying I was proud of myself would be an understatement.

I was sitting on the beach enjoying the sweet taste of victory when a young man asked if he could sit nearby. Of course, I said. Isn’t the beach to everyone, I thought. I barely paid attention to him. The moment was mine. He started the conversation asking me where I was from, I told him I was French and out of politeness, I asked him where he was from. He said he was from Egypt. That’s pretty much the conversation we had. 

After a few minutes, as I was still enjoying the day’s victory, the man told me he was going to swim and asked me if I wanted to join him. Sure, why not, I answered still in euphoria.

We went into the sea and as soon as we had reached the point where our entire bodies were submerged, the man pulled me towards him. I remember a voice in the back of my mind saying Wait, what? What’s going on here? The man has a strong grasp, keeping me close to him. I started saying no. He didn’t let me go. I said no again. He still didn’t let me go. I remember a voice in the back of my mind, wondering if I was going to get raped here in front of all the people watching from the beach. I got scared. I said no a third time, and that’s when he finally let me go.  

I could see the despise on his face. That man had assumed I had agreed to something that I had not even considered, and he was not happy because, from his perspective, I was changing my mind all of the sudden without any reason.

See, this is often the specific burden of women. We fight our own fights but we also have to fight off men while doing it. I have come to realize we need to tell those stories because men might not know those things are even happening or they don’t know what an impact this has on us. 

When I see this kind of behavior, I can understand why women in the Muslim world might want to wear an abaya and a veil, and stay away from men. But this shouldn’t be necessary. In France it certainly isn’t necessary. Things are not perfect anywhere but overall France is a place where men have been educated to understand that not everything that is shown is up for them to grab. Even high ranking politicians and diplomats who used to be protected by their status are now facing charges for misconduct. From Dubai, you have the clear impression that not all countries in the region are at the same page on this topic.

Most people in Europe don’t understand the Arab world enough to see there are nuances. They think Islam is behind everything. From Dubai, you can see more nuances. I personally have more respect for cultures where men and women are dressed in a similar way, just in a different color, compared to cultures also in the Arab world where the double standard is more obvious, starting from the way people are dressed. 

Men are often blamed alone for this macho culture, but over the years, I have also seen how some women are actually playing a dangerous game there. I have occasionally seen it, this unhealthy game, those women with those attitudes specifically targeted at raising the interest of men. And men who as a response, might expect women to be a certain way. How those people make life more difficult for everybody else who isn’t playing that game.

A few weeks before that episode on the beach, I went on a date with a Lebanese man I had met on an elevator. I hadn’t been on a date in over a decade, and I had never been on a date in Dubai. But I was literally mindblown when this man decided at the end of the evening that I needed feedback on my performance as a date. He thought I needed to know how the game worked. He told me I needed a lot more make-up, he told me my dress was too simple, he told me I should have gotten my nails done. When I objected I had done my nails with transparent nail polish, he told me I should have picked a red nail polish instead. 

I took the comments with a smile. At no point, it occurred to this man I might have no interest in joining this game, in being this woman, in interesting the kind of man who would go for this. I want a man who will see me at my lower, at my weakest and at my ugliest and still love me. How would I find him being the uber-dolled-up version of myself?

I don’t know where this mentality is coming from, I imagine that Arab pop culture has something to do with it, the movies, what people watch on TV maybe. I don’t know if it is gaining steam or if, on the contrary, it is slowly fading away. In France, things play out a bit differently but it’s the same backward macho culture people are reacting to it. France is not prepared to go backward on that front, not even to accommodate a part of its population. If I understood well, public swimming pools will no longer accommodate separate hours for women only and while I am finding it sad for the women who will give up on going to the pool, it might be better in the long term. 

If people in the Muslim world are honestly interested in fighting islamophobia, then I can tell you boycotting French products is not going to help, it’s only going to make French people more determined. If people in the Muslim world are honestly interesting in fighting islamophobia, then I think the fight for gender equality is the one to take on. The whole world needs to get rid of the idea that men can be whoever they are, but that women need to adjust, either by hiding their bodies away from lust or on the contrary, by showing it deliberately to attract interest.

I personally long for the days when I felt I could really wear what I please, only worrying about being comfortable and not about how this might get me unwanted attention. I realized that sadly even in a place like Dubai, I am not the only one in that case. 

France is trying to do their part in the direction of gender equality and I would certainly agree that Macron could have used better advisors and better communication strategists to handle the whole thing, I would certainly agree the insistance on displaying those caricatures is counter-productive and I would even say that our uncompromising approach on free speech should be reevaluated, but nonetheless, the cause behind the whole case seems fair to me. I am probably going to have interesting conversations with my hijabi best friend about this.