French girls know how to get their point across

The French are an excitable people. They take to the streets at the drop of a hat…or a brief delay in a retirement entitlement. The Americans have a similar penchant for street protests, but less of a predilection for burning things. The French do have a certain way with flambé automobiles. This contrasts starkly with the stoic British. A recent BBC comedy show pointed out rather than riot on the streets the British would only sigh dejectedly if the police were herding the whole population into stadiums for detention.

Besides the pension controversy, the French are also all of lather about burqas. They recently passed legislation limiting the where and when such attire can be worn in a nation passionate about maintaining its secular nature. This irked Osama Bin Laden so much that he released a tape condemning the act and threatening violent reprisals against the French and their foreign interests.

This restriction on a group’s apparent religious freedoms also angered some French. With Gallic flair, a pair of self-named “Niqabitches” made a film in satire of the restriction showing themselves strutting around French government buildings wearing face veils and mini-shorts. This caused no end of consternation among French officials who were not sure if these beautiful young things were offending against some ordinance or other. I am a fan of satire, and think that this non-violent protest is a priceless piece of Gallic politicking (see the video below).

Viva les French girls!

In an article published on the news website, rue89, the political science and communication students wrote that they wanted the film to be a facetious way of criticizing a French law banning the face veil worn by some Muslim women and which many religious scalars describe as un-Islamic.

“To put a simple burka on would have been too simple. So we asked ourselves: ‘how would the authorities react when faced with women wearing a burka and mini-shorts?’” asked the girls, of whom one is Muslim.

“We were not looking to attack or degrade the image of Muslim fundamentalists – each to their own – but rather to question politicians who voted for this law that we consider clearly unconstitutional,” they wrote

French girls strut in burka and mini-shorts