A Muslim woman has been banned from using public swimming pool due to wearing a head-to-toe Burqini. French officials claimed that the ban was due to strict hygienic policies practiced in France and was not a discriminatory tactic aimed at Islamic women’s garb.

The Burqini was originally created by a Lebanese-Australian designer under the name brand of Ahiida Burqini Swimwear. They are 100% polyester, the typical material used for your average swimsuit and are also 50+ UV protected. The Burqini allows a practicing Muslim woman to be able to enjoy the pleasures of swimming in public while also being able to abide to her religious faith. What is surprising about this ban is that the Burqini is very similar to the Adult Unisex Stinger designed by Stingray Sun production products. This swimwear is a full body swimsuit, minus the head covering. Both products provide optimal protection against harmful UV rays and significantly reduce the risk of skin cancer which is a definite plus over the more modern swimsuits. Professional swimmers use full-body suits to reduce drag when they swim, without any alleged hygiene problems at all.

This latest news of the Burqini ban in France is no big surprise frankly. It seems that when it comes to the French government, in particular, there is noticeable opposition toward the Muslim female’s sense of modesty and her choosing to practice said modesty by wearing full body clothing. However, this newest ban against the Burqini is being represented as a concern over hygiene with the argument that the Burqini can be worn outside the pool facilities and therefore is more prone to carrying germs that will be transferred into the pool and potentially affect other swimmers.

The argument made by the French officials that this woman was banned from using the public pool due to hygiene is weak. There is no real evidence to prove that this Burqini carries more germs than the average swimsuit or that it is common practice to wear the swimsuit outside the pool facilities. These are all assumptions which are trying to back a seriously feeble argument in the hopes of distracting us from the real problem, which is the excessive discriminatory behaviour toward practicing Muslim women in France. It is very unfortunate that a woman is not free to enjoy the amentities that so many people take for granted. What is even more troublesome is that the French society, when segregating Muslim women in this manner are they themselves trying to control the female image and are implementing a form of oppression, which is a direct contradiction to their claims of freeing the Muslim woman from what they consider to be a form of “imprisonment”. From the perspective of these women, it is the French government that is “imprisoning” them and forcibly segregating them out of society.

A woman, be she Muslim or non-Muslim, should be able to make her own choices on her appearance and to dictate otherwise is really nothing more than malecentric domination.