Shorts
The Telegraph reports an ugly story out of France.
Two families on a cycle ride in Toulon, southern France, came under violent attack after assailants hurled insults at two female partners for wearing shorts, according to prosecutors.
The attack, carried out by a group of youths from a housing estate in the Mediterranean port town, has sparked claims that parts of France are prey to an Islamist “morality police”.
There were two couples, three children and a friend, out on bicycles and roller blades.
They were passing near the Cité des Oeillets, an estate in eastern Toulon, when a group of adolescents starting insulting the women of the group because of their shorts, including jibes such as: “Dirty whore, get naked.”
When their male partners sought to intervene, a larger group of youths arrived and a fight ensued, according to the Toulon prosecutor; Bernard Marchal.
Women are not public property. Women don’t need random people on the street telling them how to dress.
The attack comes a month after an 18-year old girl was spat at and insulted by a group of girls who found her shorts indecent.
Maud Vallet posted a Facebook picture of herself in shock afterwards with the caption: “Hello, I’m a slag”. The post received over 81,000 “likes”, or signs of readers’ anger and sadness over the incident.
She recounted asking her taunters: “Why are you calling me a whore because I’m wearing shorts while a man can walk around the centre of town bare-chested without anyone saying anything?”
She said they replied: “Because you’re a woman and should respect yourself, you idiot.”
Women are not public property. Women don’t need random people on the street telling them how to dress.
It’s not just Islamic morality policing, though. I get shouted at by young white rednecks in pickup trucks when I am out walking by myself, telling me I need to get back home to my husband.
A mature, adult, professional woman, and high school boys think they have some superiority over me that allows them to tell me what to do.
There really is a clash of cultures happening in the west. I briefly dated an Egyptian Muslim man in the US. Yes, he felt not dressing modestly was an indication of your moral character. He also told me he had more respect for women who wear hijab. He believed men could not control themselves. His words, not mine. Guess he thought I was an easy western whore he had the right to use. Eye opening experience for me, a liberal, open minded person who welcomed him into my life and did not judge him for his beliefs. I thought those attitudes about Muslim men were mostly false and bigoted. When in truth many Middle Eastern and Asian Muslim men believe this. Even educated ones from major cities like Cairo.
It is a bit different from western men who catcall, also unpleasant and unwanted but it usually isn’t tinged with the same moral condemnation. I’m having trouble finding the words to describe the difference, but I’m still processing the experience.
Truly disgusting. It is terrible that this young woman had to deal with this.
Hmmm. I really don’t think I agree about the catcalling – I think that’s just the flip side of the same thing. I always experienced it as hostile and contemptuous. Or I agree that moral condemnation can be different from hostile contempt, but add that when directed at women they’re both based on loathing and disdain.
Yes, Ophelia I agree. The rude awakening is just a bit fresh for me. My situation was a different type of experience than street harassment, but you are correct both the event in France and catcalling are based in loathing and disdain. I think the additional ugliness of what I experienced was that I was duped into a relationship under false pretenses. I only came to know his real thoughts later.
Oh lordy. That’s some of the worst.
And in the situation I described, it wasn’t catcalling. It was ordering. Go home to your husband. This is the exact same attitude as those who refuse to let women go out in public without a male family member escorting them. That refuse to allow women autonomy. The only difference is that the young men (boys, in many cases) ordering me home do not have any enforcement power behind them. I can laugh at them…but often don’t, because it is so disturbing and the revving of the pickup that punctuates the order is meant to send a message. Woman, get back to your place, and quit being uppity in “our” city.
I agree with Iknklst. I think catcallers are generally trying to shame women into *not being visible in public*, at least not unless *she is clearly property* of some man. Which is not so different from what the people with the same mentality make into law in Islamic societies. And a lot of western men can put on a good face to get what they want or to keep their jobs, and then reveal their misogyny.
What I hope will happen is that, fearful of losing their culture to Islam, more western countries will make and enforce laws against street harassment and women will be able to actually get it enforced against local white misogynists, not just minorities.
Were these incidents Islamists? Neither story actually identifies the assailants/bullies as Muslim. Could the bullying girls have been from a Catholic school? Could the boys have been part of a right-wing nationalist movement (the fact that it raised questions about the possibility of Islamic morality police doesn’t tell us anything when we don’t have a quote from the police, or victims or assailants to actually tell us they were probably Muslim. Otherwise, it could just mean the local people don’t trust Muslims and are ignoring the fascists in their midst)?
Noele, I think the difference you’re pointing to is something like the difference between implicit and explicit, or de facto and de jure. Both have their pros and cons.
I should add: the difference is only in the presentation not the content. The pros and cons are in terms of addressing the content.