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

[MADem]

71. There's no simple way to explain this without sounding flippant, and that is not my intent,

but they could really give 2 stinky shits what we think on this issue, or any issue that concerns their "Frenchness" and their culture, about which they are (here's that word again) AGGRESSIVELY proprietary. They have a great deal of pride in their culture, they think they are the epitome of enlightenment and civilization, and there are aspects of their way of life that they are slow to want diluted. They feel as though they are giving something UP if they allow their way of life to be overrun by "outsiders."

The problem is, though, that many of those outsiders are not outsiders at all--they've been in the tent for many, many years.

The fact of the matter is that they brought all this on themselves--one can go all the way back to the Sykes - Picot Agreement and see the seeds of this clash being planted. The French, when they colonized, were very intent upon spreading the culture of Frenchness across the globe, and with that came full citizenship options, passports, and language indoctrination and French-style schooling in their colonies. There's a reason why they call Beyruth (Beirut) the "Paris of the Middle East" (at least when it's not being bombed)...it really does have a Parisian flair, with less dogshit and an ocean view.

They should not be surprised that their little chickens have. after all this time, come home to the "motherland" to roost. It has created a tension in the society. That tension resulted in a "hijab ban" (not a scarf ban, though--you can wear your stylish scarf, just so long as you don't fold the front like a 2nd century nun) and since the truck attack, this bathing costume ban.

The youth of Iran have this problem wired--they tossed those chadors in the eighties and, almost monolithically, evolved to the "manteau" which is a garment that looks a bit like what used to be called back in the day a "car coat." They are often belted and highly styled. The morality police still come after them every now and again, but they usually have enough material in their garments that they can loosen them to the satisfaction of some nosy parker and arrange their scarves in a different way to avoid arrest.

The French used to look down their noses at Americans, and suggest that our race issues were a consequence of our sloppy approach to issues of race and ethnicity (notwithstanding our shameful history of slavery, which Europe had a hand in as well, but never mind all that). They pointed out how they had no problem assimilating American blacks who left USA in disgust (and who were easily able to adapt to French mores, learning the language, understanding the culture, appreciating the food, etc.) but the movement across borders back in the day was nothing like it is now--and they aren't doing well at all with their "children" from their former colonies. They aren't assimilating terribly well. They keep their own languages, their own foods, their own faith, their own culture and habits. They want the passport, but they don't want to be ... FRENCH. There's a real disconnect.

We're kind of lucky in that what makes an American is not so strictly defined. Back in the middle of the last century, Ward and June Cleaver were "ideal" Americans....nowadays, "ideal" Americans are the US women's gymnastics team, or Mr. and Mrs. Khan, who appeared at the Democratic convention and offered to loan Donald Trump a paperback Constitution.