I just cannot see forcing a woman to reveal a part of her body she is not comfortable revealing as

[MADem]

17. France is an AGGRESSIVELY secular nation.

We get our "church-state" separation from them, not from UK where the Queen also heads up the church.

They are not "lassaiz-faire" as we are on the topic, they take active steps to limit religious display that they feel is out-of-step with French history or tradition.

This is a country that takes their culture very seriously, to the point that they made a big stink about "Le Weekend" being used to describe Saturday and Sunday. The Académie française is always pitching a fit about the creeping "franglais" in the vocabulary.



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2048323/French-language-website-creates-list-English-words-wants-ban.html

France IS a bit of a "nanny state" that expects the citizens to toe the French line. People love it when the government tells people what the maximum number of hours you can work is, or that you can't do work on weekends, or when they dole out this education/health benefit or that, but they do tend to make rulings that benefit the MAJORITY--not the minorities who live within their society. The nail that sticks up gets hammered down in that country, often as not. And when minorities get too much consideration, the Le Pen types in that country will pipe up and complain, in Trump style, about them.

We can complain about their POV all day, but they won't care. And, to make my view quite clear, I am not "endorsing" their attitudes and laws, simply noting that they're unlikely to change them without a great deal of pushing.

The women who want to show a bit less would be hassled less if they wore high fashion (or ersatz high fashion) on the beach, e.g.:









The French perception appears to be that the clothing has a religious component and I believe they use that argument to justify the ban. The "crime" of many of these women is that they are (gasp) UNFASHIONABLE. The easiest way to get around the law, and at the same time stay within the confines of it (at least until the courts overturn it) might be to adopt European styles and use clothing that will, at the end of the day, do the same damn thing--they'd have a harder time griping that way. I will repeat that I do not endorse the French approach to this issue, but I'm not the President or PM of France, so my opinion matters for nothing.