August 2009 Archives

The New York Times has a new article examining the French debate over the legality of Muslim women's face coverings.  Lots of interesting information, including this:

Last year, Faiza Silmi, now 33, was denied French citizenship in part for wearing the niqab, bringing a legal judgment about personal dress into the home. In an interview with Le Monde, Ms. Silmi said that she chose to wear the niqab after her marriage, even if her own mother thought it was "a little too much."

"Don't believe for a moment that I am submissive to my husband!" she said. "I'm the one who takes care of the documents and the money."

Passions have been so high that when domestic intelligence issued a report saying that only 367 women in France wore a full veil, it seemed to make no difference.

For many French Muslims, the entire discussion is an embarrassment and an incitement to racial and religious hatred.

M'hammed Henniche is the secretary for the Union of Muslim Associations of Seine-Saint-Denis, a federation of non-government organizations. He is French first of all, he said, and he is appalled.

"There's nothing but confusion," he said. "What they're talking about is the niqab, but I think choosing to use burqa instead is not an accident. They chose a word that is associated with Afghanistan, and that spreads a negative, scary image.

"There are laws in France that force women to show their face, in certain situations, at the town hall, at the bank," Mr. Henniche added. "Women who wear niqab take it off when they must. But in the streets, everyone is free. They're spinning this story in order to stigmatize a community."

Even existing laws are misunderstood, he said, with a woman refused entry to a bank because employees thought a head scarf was illegal. "It's a dangerous slip, going from a ban in school to a ban in the streets," he said.

  

From today's PostSecret.

It's summer break time here at the BofG, which means intense pre-semester work for me but for normal folks, fun! If you have the time, I recommend hopping on a plane to Viet Nam to check out the Suoi Tien Cultural Theme Park:

Suoi Tien, or "the fairy stream," is the world's first water park devoted to Buddhism, specifically the Southeast Asian animistic form of Buddhism. The animism works well for the theme park; instead of Mickey and Daffy, Suoi Tien has chosen the Dragon, Unicorn, Tortoise, and Phoenix as its sacred animals, used thematically throughout the massive water park. Furthermore, workers in golden monkey outfits roam the park taking pictures with visitors and causing "mischief."

The park focuses on Vietnamese history, folklore, and of course on the Buddha himself. Among the parks many features are an oversized golden dragon whose mouth contains a neon haloed shrine to Buddha, avenues lined with pillars in the shape of giant elephant tusks, a swimming pool surrounded by a massive concrete facade of dragons and a giant rotating frog sculpture at the entrance. Particularly delightful are the twelve story face's of the Buddhist sages - with water slides emerging from their beards.

Thanks Michelle!

(For what may have been the first Christian water part, check out this retrospective of Jim Bakker's Heritage USA. I went on a research trip there after the Jessica Hahn scandal--it truly was a sight to behold.)

Organized by Spike Lee & the Borough of Brooklyn, this block party celebrates Jackson's role as an inspirational icon. Personal and civic identity resonate in this contemporary version of the saint's day festival:

Anybody and everybody is invited to attend Michael Jackson’s 51st birthday party on Saturday, August 29, from noon to 5 p.m., at Fort Greene Park, Brooklyn, New York. DJ Spinna will be spinning all things Jackson, from the Jackson 5 to the Jacksons to Michael Jackson. The Brooklyn borough president will be on hand to declare Aug. 29 “Michael Jackson Day.”

“At the end, we’ll all sing Happy Birthday to Michael,” Lee says. “We’re going to make sure he hears us, too. All over the world, people are going to be celebrating his birthday. But he’s going to hear Brooklyn; Brooklyn is going to be in the house. Deep.”

The New York Times illustrates a story on the city's heat advisory with an equally hot beach photo.

For more on synagogues, shuls & temples, check out jewfaq.org--and here's the original song to help you write your own parody lyrics.

From the photographer:

Personification of Charity & Mercy. Charity is rather unusually shown as male in this window, perhaps inspired by the Good Samaritan parable. Mercy is female and is shown clothing the poor.

Windows designed by Burne Jones and made by Morris & Co. of the pre-Raphaelite school, were installed in the then-Unitarian chapel of Manchester College, Oxford. A stunning ruby glass is used throughout and the designs are striking with beautiful faces.

The banning of French Muslim woman from a swimming pool for wearing a burquini has become a major international news story.

Besides the sociopolitical controversy, one interesting thing that's come out of it is renewed attention on the burqini's creator, Australian swimwear designer Aheda Zanetti, who provides her reflections on the controversy here:

Ms Zanetti said she also had to work hard to have the "burqini'' accepted in other European nations such as The Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria and Germany.

"A lot of people are appreciating it, the fact that we've put our foot down ... we didn't give up,'' she said.

"They are choices, just women's choices, that's all it is.''

The woman turned away from the swimming pool was wearing a copy of the Ahiida design, probably made from a heavy polyester.

Ms Zanetti said the woman's ban was unlikely to have been based on hygiene as there is no proof full-length swimsuits were unhygienic, with women often wearing other swimwear underneath.

"It could be a political reason. It could be a racist reason. It could be a discrimination reason. It could be millions of reasons,'' she said.

"There's no proof - what do they mean hygiene?

"You can't kick someone out ... it doesn't matter - Muslim, Christian, I don't care who they are - you can't say something without a strong ground.''

Ms Zanetti said she has received support from all over the world for her design, which she says has encouraged Muslim women to be more active both socially and in the workforce.

"It's just a burqini. It's only just a swimsuit, but it really has gathered up work, confidence, ability ... it's just done amazing things.''

At the Snite Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame.

The women above are meditating while smeared with clay and honey. The location: a Yoga tourism hotspot on Mexico's Riviera Maya.

The New York Times has the scoop.