| This paper addresses the 2004 French ban on hijabs being worn in France's public schools. Though legally phrased as a prohibition on conspicuous religious symbols, the debate on and subsequent passage of the ban was centered on the hijab; the head covering fabric that is traditionally associated with Muslim women. Through analysis of the debate this paper intends to answer the question of why hijabs were banned, arguing that a narrative of protecting the French concept of secularism known as lacite was constructed to achieve broad support from French society when the real issues were centered on France's fears of Islam, the inability of Muslim immigrants to assimilate in French society, and the challenges that the Muslim French community presents to the traditional concept of French identity. |
