Boreal
Burkini Buzz 2016
The two-piece burkini (also spelled burquini) as demonstrated by Nigela Lawson (English journalist, broadcaster, television personality, gourmet, and food writer Wiki):
The two-piece burkini, and it's even more modest
"veilkini", may not be much of an improvement over the traditional one piece djellaba a "long loose-fitting robe with full sleeves" and a hood worn by both women and men.
Basically, for observant women, you swim, if you can call it that, in the same clothing you wear every day. Following is what Dalal Al-Bizri, Lebanese sociologist and columnist for the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat had to say about swimming fully clothed.
Any woman who has ever tried to swim fully-clothed is aware that she is not swimming; she can only, at best, struggle with the weight of her waterlogged clothing. This, in addition, to the nasty skin abrasions caused by the corrosive combination of salt and sand that gets embedded in clothing that takes forever to dry.
And of course, especially “the long, opaque djellaba” is not an impediment to sex. Quite the opposite.
By clinging to the skin, by hugging the contours of the human body, these soaking-wet garments are much more suggestive than any ordinary swimsuit. The power of seduction of young women draped in this fashion and constrained in their movements is increased tenfold.
It's all about promoting your religion as Ms. Zanetti, who added a hood to the venerable pantsuit and called it swimwear, makes clear.
Aheda Zanetti, who claims the trademark on the name burkini and burqini, said online sales were up by 200%... She said the design was partially inspired by reports of France banning the hijab in schools to discourage the growth of Islam.
BBC News Aug 23, 2016
As with the hijab, burkini-wearing Muslims are answering the call of clerics and scholars like Tariq Ramadan to invade the public space dressed in traditional Islamic garbs as a way of promoting a religion that has taken away their right to choose.
33:36 It is not up to any believer, man or woman, when Allah and His Messenger have passed a judgement, to have any choice in their affairs. Whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger have gone astray in a manifest manner.
An Expression of Self-Loathing
It is my choice, say the women. Except, that it is an irreversible choice which will take them to a place where they have no choice.
French sociologist Jean-Claude Kaufmann during an interview with le Point about his new book, Burkini, autopsie d'un fait divers (The Burkini, dissecting a trivial event, my translation), May 18, 2017.
In adopting the veil, the burka, the burkini ... females are publicizing that they are accepting to live by the dictates of a religion that hates them in a manifestation of self-loathing that what a misogynous duo said about them is correct.
Cannes
The mayor of Cannes in southern France has banned full-body swimsuits known as "burkinis" from the beach ... women wearing burkinis will be invited to change into a more "respectful" costume.
BBC News, August 12
It's about showing respect, but also about removing a looming ominous presence wearing what mayor David Lisnard said "was a symbol of Islamic extremism" that might take away from your enjoyment of a day at the beach.
Corsica
A village mayor in Corsica has banned full-body swimsuits known as "burkinis" after a beach brawl between families of North African descent and local youths... Witnesses say hatchets and harpoons were used in the Sisco beach brawl.
Witnesses say the brawl began after the Muslim families objected to photos being taken by a tourist. When a local teenager, with a group of friends on the beach, also took a photo the brawl erupted ....
BBC News, August 15, 2016
According to Le Figaro newspaper, older men who were herding their burkini clad women came prepared to defend their dignity and attacked the teenagers with hatchets. This is getting so weird that the weirdness may be the straw that breaks the proverbial camel's back and we will see an increase in rational limits imposed on accommodating the irrational.
Nice - Revisiting the Scene of the Crime
At least 84 people have been killed, including more than 10 children, after a lorry slammed through a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in the southern French city of Nice.
BBC July 15, 2016
French police make woman remove clothing on Nice beach following burkini ban
Authorities in 15 towns have banned burkinis, citing public concern following recent terrorist attacks in the country ...
[the] woman was sitting on the shore at the town’s Promenade des Anglais, the scene of last month’s Bastille Day lorry attack.
The Guardian August 24, 2016
The Battle on the Beaches Moves to the Courtroom
France's Human Rights League (LDH) and the anti-Islamophobia association (CCIF), after failing to convince a court in Nice to overturn a ban at a beach (not Cannes) near the city, have asked France's highest administrative court, the Council of State (Conseil d'Etat) to rule on the matter. A decision is expected within days.
In a major survey, 64% of citizens polled agreed with the bans which, at this writing covered (no pun intended) 26 beaches, most of them on the French Riviera.
Whatever the court decides, Nicolas Sarkozy, in an interview with Le Figaro said that, "not to do anything about the Burkini" would mean "another reversal for the Republic."
August 25, 2016
Freedom from Religion Denied
Top French court makes initial ruling to overturn burkini ban
Reuters Aug 25, 2016
The impact of this ruling for France will not be unlike what came after the decision in Ontario Human Rights Commission and Theresa O'Malley vs. Simpsons-Sears. Expect more rulings which discriminate against secularists.
The Fragile Exception has just gotten a lot more brittle!
Forcing the Secular to Promote its Nemesis in Canada
The United Nations Wades In
The United Nations human rights office has called on French beach resorts to lift their bans on the burkini, calling them a “stupid reaction” that did not improve security but fueled religious intolerance.
Reuters, Aug 30, 2016
Exactly who is fuelling religious intolerance! Eighty-four men, women and children are cruelly crushed to death beneath the wheels of a lorry driven by a man for whom the burka is a symbol of what his religion is all about where women are concerned and what is the response from the community of believers? An insensitive, insulting, intolerant, ill-timed demand that their women be allowed to parade on the beaches near the massacre in clothing that is a reminder of the horror that was visited on French citizens by a coreligionist.
Where is the Outrage?
Iran's state TV says police have shut down more than 800 clothing stores across the country for selling "unconventional and inappropriate" attire -- believed to mean Western-style outfits and women's clothing that doesn't meet strict Islamic requirements.
Associated Press Sept 5, 2016
I don't think it would have mattered if France had followed Iran's example and penalized the seller of the burkini.
It is so much easier to pick on the country whom French Prime Minister, Manuel Valls praised for "fighting for the freedom of women who should not have to live under the yoke of a chauvinist order."
By banning the burkini on public beaches France was making a statement that "the female body is neither pure nor impure; it is the female body. It does not need to be hidden to protect against some kind of temptation."
The deliberate oppressors of women get a pass, while the well-meaning are pilloried.
Alice's bizarro world may not be that far off.
The Holy v. the Holistic
A Muslim woman from Australia has told how she was forced to leave a beach in France for wearing a burkini.
Zeynab Alshelh, a 23-year-old medical student, told Australian media she had travelled to Europe to show solidarity with local Muslim women ... [and] to learn more about the situation and see if there was "anything that we can do to help these girls just live a normal life".
BBC Sept 19, 2006
As a medical student Ms. Alshelh should be aware of the health risks of not exposing enough skin to sunlight for long enough periods of time to allow the body to fill up on vitamin D. A lack or shortage of this essential vitamin can lead to a shorten lifespan; but not before experiencing headaches, bladder issues, constipation, diarrhea... and weight gain.
The "normal life" advocate on a beach in front of another young woman in more appropriate beachwear.
Ms. Alshelh's idea of focusing on the inside, as a woman of faith, is obviously very different from that of people who take a more holistic approach to keeping body and soul in sync.
"It is a symbol of my faith, it is a symbol of my religion, it is a symbol of Islam and to go out there and wear the hijab, it helps people focus on what's inside rather than what's on the outside."
Flaunting (sic) the Rules!
Muslim teen first to compete in hijab for Miss Minnesota
A Somali-American has become the first to compete in the Miss Minnesota USA pageant wearing a hijab and burkini. She said she hopes her participation inspires other Muslim women to be confident about their identity. The St Cloud resident said she was overwhelmed to be in the top 15 contestants and has received an outpouring of support from women around the world.
BBC, Nov 28, 2016
It's not enough for her to hide her finery, she must also not flaunt it, which is an integral part of a beauty pageant, except in front of a select audience. If she must appear on stage, to keep within the bounds set Allah and His Messenger it is the full shapeless burka and niqab, and she must be accompanied on stage by her father, her husband or a close male relative.
[The Prophet said] "It is not permissible for a man to be alone with a woman, and no lady should travel except with a Muhram (her husband or a person whom she cannot marry e.g. her father, brother… "
Bukhari 52.250
If the appropriate male is not available she can always suckle a stranger if she is lactating, making him Muhram, thereby eligible to be her guardian for the occasion.
And you thought the burkini was the silliest thing.
Bernard Payeur