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Journal of Intercultural Communication Research
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French-Muslims and the Hijab: An Analysis of Identity and the Islamic Veil in
France
Stephen M. Croucher
Online Publication Date: 01 November 2008
To cite this Article Croucher, Stephen M.(2008)'French-Muslims and the Hijab: An Analysis of Identity and the Islamic Veil in
France',Journal of Intercultural Communication Research,37:3,199 — 213
To link to this Article: DOI: 10.1080/17475750903135408
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17475750903135408
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Journal of Intercultural Communication Research
Vol. 37, No. 3, November 2008, pp. 199–213
French-Muslims and the Hijab:
An Analysis of Identity and the Islamic
Veil in France
Stephen M. Croucher
This article examines how Muslims living in France construct, and negotiate their
identities in the wake of Law 2004–228, a French law banning the wearing of the Islamic
veil in French public schools. This research finds that Muslims deem the Islamic veil or
hijab to be a fundamental part of their identity. Muslims describe the hijab as being an
important and salient symbol of Islam that runs counter to France’s concept of secularism
or laı
¨
cite
´
. Moreover, French-Muslims assert regulations like Law 2004–228 represent
France attempting to control Muslim identity and forcefully integrate this population.
Keywords: Islam; Laı
¨
cite
´
; Identity Negotiation; Hijab; France
Seated together on a bench outside the Paris Mosque on a warm summer day, Fatima
and Dalal expressed their feelings about the hijab. Fatima, a 37-year-old Tunisian-
born Muslim, wearing a dark purple headscarf, foulard in French, stated:
When I hijab [pause] I in public feel safe. I feel [pause] like people only see [pause]
people only see what I want them to see. I am free to walk, and people, people uh
[pause] they uh [pause] move for me to walk and I not worry people stare at my
body because [pause] I hijab.
Dalal, a 21-year-old French-born Muslim of Algerian ancestry, who was wearing a
tricolore drapeau hijab (a hijab made of the French flag), described different reasons
for wearing the hijab. She said that aside from safety and tradition, the hijab gives her
an opportunity to protest against the French government and Christianity. She said:
I agree with Fatima [pause] I feel safe when hijab. But [pause] I also think hijab
much more important for protest and politics. Hijab [pause] hijab give me and
Stephen M. Croucher (Ph.D., University of Oklahoma, 2006) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of
Communication at Bowling Green State University. Correspondence to: Stephen M. Croucher, PhD,
Department of Communication, School of Communication Studies, Bowling Green State University, 302 West
Hall, Bowling Green, OH 43403, USA. Tel: 419-372-4575. Email: scrouch@bgsu.edu
ISSN 1747-5759 (print)/ISSN 1747-5767 (online) ! 2008 World Communication Association
DOI: 10.1080/17475750903135408
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other women chance to show we Muslim and [pause] and chance to say we proud
to be Muslim. I wear tricolore hijab [pause] this say I French, I upset with France
and [pause] and I want people to know I have protest thoughts. I upset about many
things like ban in schools, army power and no jobs.
Hijab according to Al-Munajeed (1997) is an Arabic word meaning a shield or to
make invisible by using a shield. Croucher (2008) asserts that increasingly, French
Muslim women have taken to the wearing of hijabs as a form of social protest.
Specifically, many women have argued France’s 2004 passage of a law prohibiting
‘‘conspicuous’’ religious symbols in public schools, Law 2004–228, is a state
sponsored attack against Muslim identity and religion (Croucher, 2008, 2009; Islamic
Institute for Human Rights, 2005). The law states: ‘‘Dans les e
´
coles, les colleges et les
lyce
´
es publics, le port de signes ou tenues par lesquels les e
´
le
`
ves manifestent
ostensiblement une appartenance religieuse est interdit’’ or ‘‘In public school, colleges
and universities, the wearing of signs or behaviors by which pupils express openly a
religious membership is prohibited’’ (LegiFrance, 2005).
The French state argues such a ban on the wearing of religious symbols in public
domains like schools is a defense of the French concept of laı
¨
cite
´
, or separation of
church and state (International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, 2005).
Numerous religious organizations have stated the Muslim hijab, or the wearing of a
religious headscarf, is a target of anti-Muslim sentiment, hatred and fear (Croucher,
2008), and the ban on religious symbols in the public domain is a racist attempt by
the French government (Bramham, 2004) to eliminate the formation of a Muslim
identity in France, and instead encourage Muslims in France to adapt to French
culture and adopt a solely ‘‘French’’ identity (Ganley, 2004).
The French government in response to protests against the 2004 law, and previous
suspensions of young girls in French school for wearing the hijab, specifically in 1989
and 1994, has asserted steps to remove religious symbols from schools serve two
purposes. First, bans on ‘‘conspicuous’’ religious symbols preserves the French ideal
of laı
¨
cite
´
in the French public school system (Gaspard & Khosrokhavar, 1995; Jeffries,
2005). Second, the ban is seen as a step toward integrating Muslims into French
culture. However, many Muslims in France question this goal, and assert the ban,
and successive expulsions from school for young girls who defy the law (Bennhold,
2004), promote integration, but also the elimination of their religious identity, a
common occurrence in the assimilation process (Croucher, 2006, 2008, 2009).
Isra, a 26-year-old Libyan immigrant to France discussed how she sees the 2004
ban on wearing religious symbols in schools as a way to ‘‘make’’ Muslims ‘‘act’’ more
French in public. She said, ‘‘the ban [pause] it reason it simple. French government
and Christians want Muslim women to act French on streets [pause] in cafe
´
s and in
public. They want to make us act more French by law.’’ Layla concurred with this
statement, and added the law is sexually biased. The French 23-year-old Muslim of
Moroccan ancestry said:
The ban [pause] it to make Muslim women be more like French Christian women.
They want me to look [pause] to act and to [pause] to be more like them when I
not in my home. They want to control my body. When they say children cannot
200 S. M. Croucher
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hijab in schools and I cannot hijab in other places [pause] they control my body
[pause] mind and my soul.
As young women are taught culture-specific body norms and positions (Lengel,
2004), a national mandate over a symbol like the hijab becomes a site of struggle.
Foucault (1978) asserts discourse and social practice sexes the human body, making
it a target for social control and power. Thus, for many French-Muslim women, a
way to counter the perceived attempt at controlling their feminine, Muslim identity
is to protest against the French government with the hijab. Thus, this analysis
examines the hijab and how French-Muslim women use it as a form of protest in
shaping their feminine, French, and Islamic identities. The following sections offer a
review of literature about the hijab and identity, define the method of data collection
used for this analysis, analyze sentiments of French-Muslim women, and draw
conclusions based on the analysis.
Veils in History
The practice of veiling pre-dates the formation of Islam as a religious faith. The veil is
actually a product of Judaism, as women in ancient Judea were required to wear a veil
over their heads when praying to God, or Jehovah (Croucher, 2008). Men on the
other hand in Judea could worship without a veil, since man was created in the image
of God (Parshall & Parshall, 2002). Even the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ,
the savior in the Christian faith, in all depictions, wears a veil over her hair. Ancient
Assyrian kings introduced the seclusion of women into the royal harem, and also
brought into fashion the wearing of the veil for women in the royal harem. Women
in ancient Greece wore linen veils over the back of their heads. Roman women wore a
palliolum, a veil that covers the hair and is draped over the shoulders (Croucher,
2008). During the reign of Elizabeth I in England, white bridal veils, similar to the
head covering worn by the Virgin Mary and other Christian women became popular
(Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 2003).
This symbol of Islam, which did not appear in the Muslim ummah (community)
until approximately 627 C.E., is considered a defining element of modern and
historical Islam (Aslan, 2005). For many women throughout the world (Nashat &
Tucker, 1999; Hawkins, 2003), the act of wearing the hijab or veiling identifies or
labels a woman as Muslim to the rest of the world. In the twentieth century, the act of
veiling has come under intense scrutiny, especially as more and more Muslims
emigrate and begin to populate non-Muslim nations. Particularly in nations where
secularism is favored over religious affiliations (Turkey and France in particular), the
veil has been ‘‘attacked’’ or ‘‘deemed’’ a threat to secular/stable democratic traditions
(Croucher, 2005, 2006, 2008). For example, Mustafa Atatu
¨
rk, the first president of
Turkey banned veiling throughout Turkey in 1925 (Roy, 2004).
In France, conflicts over the wearing of the Muslim veil have encapsulated the
populace and signified the growing tensions between the secular French state
and Islam. The first Muslim veil affair took place in 1989 (Cesari, 1994;
Journal of Intercultural Communication Research 201
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Gaspard & Khosrokhavar, 1995). In Creil, a suburb of Paris, three school girls (two
Moroccans and one Tunisian) were expelled from school for refusing to remove their
hijabs, veils that cover the head and hair, but not the face (Kidd, 2000). The girls argued
wearing the hijab was in observance of their religion, and the headmaster of the school
claimed the wearing of religious clothing was incompatible with the French concept of
laı
¨
cite
´
(Gaspard & Khosrokhavar, 1995). Upon appeal, the Council d’Etat ruled the
girls were within their rights to wear religious attire (Gaspard & Khosrokhavar, 1995).
Ultimately, the decision of the Council d’Etat reinforced laı
¨
cite
´
by reasserting the role
of the state as an entity that will not control religion.
In 2004, this issue resurfaced with the passage of Law 2004–228. Muslim groups
view this new law as not directed toward Catholics or Jews, but as a carte blanche way
of banning the Muslim faith from public schools through equal legal restrictions
(Croucher, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009). Since the passage of the law, Muslim groups have
been divided on how to respond. Some members of the Muslim community have
argued the veil ban is an attack on Islam and prevents Muslim women from freely
expressing their religious beliefs and self-identity. While other Muslim and non-
Muslim groups have asserted the ban frees Muslim women from tyrannical Muslim
doctrine that objectifies women and prevents Muslim women from forming
independent self-identities.
Identity
Identity, or an individual’s self concept, is built on cultural, social and personal
identities (Lustig & Koester, 2003). Hall (1992) asserts there are three approaches to
the study of identity. The first approach coming from the Enlightenment period sees
identity as a relatively fixed and static sense of self. This sense of self is immune to
outside influence. The second approach places emphasis on the social construction of
reality. The third, most recent, approach views identity as an open and constantly
changing sense of self.
Ting-Toomey (1993) states identity is ‘‘the mosaic sense of self-identification that
incorporates the interplay of human, cultural, social and personal images as
consciously or unconsciously experiences and enacted by the individual’’ (p. 74).
Within this framework, Ting-Toomey differentiates between cultural, and social
identities.
Cultural identity is an individual’s sense of belonging to a particular ethnic group
or culture. Carbaugh (1996) explains that cultural identity stems from three different,
and often complimentary idioms: biological identity, psychological identity, and
cultural identity. Biological identity is best equated with a ‘‘blood quantum,’’ such as
with Native American tribes, where an individual must have blood that contains a
certain amount of Native American blood in order to be ‘‘part of the tribe’’
(Carbaugh, 1996). Psychological identity refers to an individual’s personal psycho-
logical traits. Carbaugh uses the example of someone being a bit neurotic, depressed
or obsessive, and identifying himself/herself with film director Woody Allen.
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The third idiom for Carbaugh is cultural/social identity. This idiom is where
individuals identify themselves with a group based on shared habits, norms, rules or
customs. All three of these idioms often overlap and can in some cases contradict one
another on first analysis (Croucher, 2006).
Social identity involves different connections individuals have to particular social
groups within their culture. Ting-Toomey (1993) argues the negotiation of social
identity is integral to effective intercultural communication competence. She states
that identity negotiation, or the effective negotiation ‘‘between two interactants in a
novel communication episode’’ is an intricate and varied process (p. 73). These
approaches to identity were chosen to analyze how French-Muslim women negotiate
and use the hijab to protest perceived limitations placed on their Islamic and
feminine identities. Thus, the following question is posed regarding French-Muslim
women’s wearing of the hijab:
RQ: How does the hijab function as a tool of French-Muslim female identity?
Method
Interviews were conducted in France in the summers of 2005 and 2006. The
interviews took place in the following French cities: Lille, Lyon, Bordeaux, Clichy-
sous-Bois (where the November 2005 riots began) and Paris (as well as its suburbs).
These cities represent different geographic regions of France, have a varied number of
Muslim inhabitants, and in each city the researcher had contact with a local imam
(religious teacher), and a social network of personal friends in the Muslim
community. Roy (2004) explains how imams are an important part of the Muslim
faith and that imams are taking on increasingly political and leadership roles in the
emerging Muslim community or ummah. These men now carry political influence,
and are beginning to serve as intermediaries between Muslims and God.
Having these imams as contacts was vital to the success of this research. Not only
did the imams put the researcher in contact with some of the interview participants
(previously established social networks put the researcher in contact with the
majority of the participants), but they also assured some participants and their male
family members that the researcher was respectful and would put their family at no
risk. This assurance was vital to gaining access to some members of the community.
Once access was gained to some members of the community, a few participants
brought friends (some regular attendees at the mosques, some not) into the research
process for interviews, a snowball sampling effect took place (Patton, 1990).
Forty-two Muslim women were interviewed for this analysis to gain an
understanding of the hijab and Muslim identity. All participants were of North
African descent and all interviewees were either first or second-generation Algerian
(14 interviewees), Tunisian (6 interviewees), Moroccan (8 interviewees), Libyan
(3 interviewees) or British (1) immigrants to France, or born in France
(13 interviewees). Each interview began with the researcher meeting a participant
at a pre-determined location (chosen by the interviewee), the majority of these
Journal of Intercultural Communication Research 203
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locations were public squares or cafe
´
s, while some interviews took place in private
residences. The interviews consisted of in-depth open-ended interviews, probing
identification. Participants were asked a multitude of questions about their life
experiences, family, religion, perceptions about France, and other issues that
organically developed during the ‘‘conversations.’’ The interviews were conducted in
either French or English, dependent upon the participant’s linguistic ability in either
language. Interviews were then transcribed and translated. The transcripts were then
analyzed using a grounded theory approach (Glaser & Strauss, 1967), looking to see
what patterns emerged, whether they were limited to a particular individual, or found
across individuals.
The Hijab and French-Muslim Identity
Throughout the interviews, the French-Muslim women brought forth four broad
functions/reasons for the hijab in France. Women discussed how the hijab helps
some of them blend a North African ancestry or heritage with French culture. Many
spoke of how the hijab helps them feel comfortable or secure in their bodies while out
in public. Others said when they hijab they feel a closeness to the Prophet
Muhammad and to the Muslim community, as if they are his bride and the
community’s mother. Finally, many of the Muslim women discussed how the hijab
provides them a silent way to identify themselves as Muslims to others, while at the
same time it gives them a way to publicly and silently protest actions taken by the
French government to limit religious expression.
The Hijab and Muslim Heritage
Many of the French-Muslim women interviewed for this project talked about how the
act of wearing the hijab is an important cultural/religious tradition they do not want to
abandon. Some equated the hijab as a channel between their French identities and
their Muslim female, and North African identities. Nadya, a 26-year-old Algerian-
born immigrant, described how she is an Algerian, French, and Muslim woman. She
said:
I am many things. I am woman [pause] I am Muslim woman [pause] you see my
hijab. I am Algerian [pause] and I am French. I am diverse woman. I think in
France and in Islam I can be many things I want to be.
Salma, a Tunisian immigrant expressed similar sentiments. The 37-year-old
woman stated:
I wear hijab because it tradition in my religion and culture. I [pause] I know it not
tradition and culture in France. France my new home. I French now. But I also
Muslim and Tunisian woman. I will hijab because it part of me and my [pause]
part of my culture and life and me now French will not change it when other parts
of life change in France.
204 S. M. Croucher
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Amani, a 32-year-old French-born Muslim of Algerian ancestry further expressed
this multi-faceted identity, facilitated by wearing the hijab. She discussed how
growing up wearing a hijab has taught her Islamic, and Algerian values in France. She
said:
I know I live in France. But [pause] I am a Muslim woman [pause] I hijab and I am
proud to be Muslim and to hijab. I know about Islam and Algeria because my
family taught me [pause] they taught me when I a child. They taught me values of
Islam and of France. I now show people when I hijab that I Muslim but I show
people in France [pause] because I Muslim woman who live in France.
Other women put it very simply. Farida, a 45-year-old Algerian immigrant to
France said, ‘‘yes I born in Algeria [pause] but I also French woman. I also Muslim
woman who hijab to show Islam.’’ Lina, a 37-year-old Algerian female, said, ‘‘I born
in Algeria [pause] I Algerian, and I French [pause] and I Muslim. I many woman
with hijab.’’ Many of the women identified themselves with their nation of birth,
where they live currently (they all live in France), and as a Muslim woman who wear
hijabs. Thus their identification is multi-dimensional, deriving from their birthplace,
current citizenship nation, and their religion.
The Hijab Brings Bodily Security in Public
The word hijaba means ‘‘to shield,’’ and for many of the French-Muslim women
interviewed for this project this is a fundamental purpose of the hijab. This symbol
serves as a way to secure identity, reduce uncertainty and enhance self-esteem. For
women who wear the hijab, it offers security from the outside world. Inam, a
23-year-old born in France of Algerian parents said, ‘‘when I hijab I have a shield. I
am safe from people.’’ Manal, a 39-year-old Algerian immigrant said ‘‘I am shielded,
protected when I hijab, I am free to be [pause] woman in public with hijab.’’ Aziza, a
42-year-old born in France of Algerian and Tunisian parents said, ‘‘I think hijab
make city safer [pause] it make city better for women.’’ Najwa, a 29-year-old
Tunisian immigrant concurred and stated ‘‘I feel good when women in family
wear [pause] hijab because [pause] men not see all her and she not need feel unsafe
in public or on the street.’’ Wafa, a 69-year-old Tunisian immigrant said ‘‘my
daughter and granddaughters they hijab and [pause] I uh think that good because
[pause] people not look or question daughter or granddaughters in public with
hijab.’’
This security or ‘‘shield’’ also protects their sense of self-identification because
many Muslim women do not feel as if their self-identification can be successfully
challenged by outsiders when they wear the hijab. Dima, a 45-year-old Algerian
female, said:
The veil [pause] or the act of hijab is a way to protect women from the outside
world [pause] and it also is way for women to protect themselves from other
people who could dishonor them. It uh [pause] make women safer. It make us safer
from people who not understand us.
Journal of Intercultural Communication Research 205
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The concept of security from the outside world while wearing the hijab was
further explained by Lubna, a 42-year-old French-born Muslim of Algerian heritage
who said:
When I hijab [pause] I in public feel safe. I feel [pause] like people only see [pause]
people only see what I want them to see. I am free to walk, and people, people they
uh [pause] move for me to walk and I not worry people stare at my body because
[pause] I hijab. They see me and not false person.
The protection the hijab offers for many women is highly regarded. Many of the
women interviewed for this project voiced feeling of ease and comfort when they
wear the hijab in public. Other female participants, when talking about their security
and identity, equated the hijab with a ‘‘shroud of protection.’’ Tarub, a 39-year-old
Tunisian immigrant, said, ‘‘I have shroud in public. I uh [pause] have protection
from men, people and the world with hijab. I can be me.’’ Suhair, a 42-year-old
Algerian immigrant said, ‘‘I have a shroud of protection when I in public and private
[pause] like your Jesus Christ with the hijab. He proud to be himself [pause] like
me.’’ The fact that this participant includes Jesus Christ in her description is probably
a reference to the shroud of Turin, the cloth in which Christ was wrapped in after his
crucifixion.
Relationship with Muhammad and the Community
Women also voiced how the hijab shapes their identity by helping some women feel
as if they have become the wife of Muhammad. In fact, Aslan (2005) described how
donning the veil, or darabat al-hijab is a synonym for ‘‘becoming Muhammad’s
wife.’’ Fardoos, a 46-year-old Moroccan female, described this process of becoming
Muhammad’s wife. She said, ‘‘When I wear my hijab I act like the wives of
Muhammad acted. I become his wife on Earth.’’
Numerous other women also detailed how the hijab brings them closer to
Muhammad. This feelings of closeness and connection with Muhammad was detailed
by a 32-year-old French-born woman of Algerian ancestry. Abla said:
When I hijab I feel good. I feel [pause] near Prophet. I know I can remove hijab,
but [pause] when I wear I show other people that I with him. I teach daughter to
do same thing [pause] to show love for Prophet and hijab.
Samira equated her wearing of the hijab with the wearing of a wedding ring. The
French-born Muslim of Moroccan parents said:
It custom [pause] it normal for women and men to wear ring after they married.
I wearhijab, it [pause] like ring with Prophet. I not have ring from Prophet. I uh
[pause] havering from husband. Hijab uh [pause] say I respect, that I uh [pause]
follow his word.
Zuhair, a 29-year-old Algerian female, discussed how the closeness she feels to the
Prophet is a beautiful way to live her life. She said:
I love husband and I love Prophet. I uh [pause] not think I have choose one as
more orother. They uh [pause] different. But I say when I hijab that I uh [pause]
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beautiful womanand I uh modest and [pause] safe woman. Hijab is beauty it uh
[pause] beautiful relationship.
Aside from the hijab representing the becoming of the Prophet’s wife, participants
also said it represents their transformation from a woman into a mother within their
umma, or Muslim community. Thara, a 38-year-old Tunisian female said:
When I wear a hijab I am the wife of Muhammad and I am a mother to my
community. Virtuous women hijab and only a virtuous woman should be a
mother. So, a hijab helps me show my virtue and be a good example for my
community.
Protest against the Actions of the French Government
The 2004 ban on the wearing of religious symbols in French public schools and in
other public/government buildings in essence banned the hijab in many places.
In response to this action, many French-Muslim women have taken to wearing the
hijab as a way to identify themselves as Muslim women and to silently protest against
the 2004 ban. Nihal, a 63-year-old Moroccan female, discussed how she and her
daughter use the hijab as an act of Islamic solidarity and protest. She said:
My daughter and my granddaughters they have many problems in France today.
They cannot wear the hijab at work or in school. They have rules in school and at
the office against the hijab because French people do not like the hijab and do not
like Islam. We not like this. We now wear red, white and blue hijabs like flag. This
very strong political thing to do. It say we Muslim women and we proud.
Maysa, a 32-year-old woman, who was born in France to Tunisian parents,
discussed how she must remove her daughters’ hijab for school, but she does not do
so. She also delivers them to school wearing an interesting hijab on occasion. She
said:
I know it law [pause] it law to not wear hijab in school. I think it wrong. My
daughters [pause] they wear hijabs after lunch everyday. I also walk everyday to
school with them [pause] and when I walk to school [pause] I wear purple hijab.
Purple important color for Tunisians. This show to me and [pause] it show to my
family that we Tunisians now more than we French. The law make me love France
less [pause] and be less proud of country here.
Hikmat, a 37-year-old French-born woman, of Algerian heritage discussed how
she used to not see the hijab as a sign of unity, and a collective female, Muslim
identity, but now does in response to the 2004 ban. She said:
I wear hijab for many years and [pause] and I not think about how it make a
community for Muslim women. Now [pause] now I think more about hijab and
what it mean to Muslim women in France and other countries. Here [pause] here
we not allowed to have children hijab. So [pause] so when I hijab it show people I
Muslim [pause] and I proud Muslim woman who not afraid of government.
Safa, a 26-year-old French-born Muslim of Tunisian parents said she never
thought of herself as anything but French and Muslim, until the 2004 ban was passed.
Journal of Intercultural Communication Research 207
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She said now she has a much stronger sense of being a Muslim and a stronger feeling
of respect for her hijab.
French Catholic friend [pause] she said where you born? I [pause] say France. She
said [pause] where were your parents born? [pause] I say Tunis. She said you
Tunisian not French, you only French citizen, but I more French than you are, that
what people think she said. I not understand why she say that to me. I always think
I French. After we talk at store, I uh [pause] think maybe I not French [pause]
maybe I Tunisian. But I born in France. I more proud now to be Muslim and
[pause] and I show I Muslim with my hijab.
Other women voiced similar sentiments, of feeling a stronger sense of ethnic or
religious identification and being more empowered to show it. Zakiya, a 47-year-old
Algerian female, claimed the anti-hijab feelings of many French people are based on
misunderstood stories and history. She said:
Many people in France not understand hijab. They [pause] uh think hijab bad
[pause] but it not bad. It part of history and women choose to wear it. It uh
[pause] not something French people understand [pause] so they say it bad and
hate Muslim women who hijab. So [pause] I hijab to show all women who hijab
not evil women [pause] but good and [pause] normal women.
Overall, most in the Muslim community equated policies against the hijab such as
the 2004 ban on wearing religious symbols in schools, and other private regulations
as results of the French Christian population and the government not wanting to
understand Muslim culture, or wanting to stop the development of a developed
Muslim-French identity, an expression of French perspectival modernity (Gebser,
1985). Thus, the realization that wearing the hijab can be an act of protest or
solidarity offers some of the women in this community empowerment. Michel, a
42-year-old French journalist who writes about minority issues in France and also
researches immigrant groups for Le Monde said he increasingly sees more Muslim
women on French streets in Paris. While he admits the Muslim population is
increasing, he also knows from talking with members of the Muslim community that
many women are purposely out in public to ‘‘show they are Muslim to the rest of
Paris.’’ He added:
We are secular here and [pause] that is France. Muslims can be Muslims but it is
not necessary to wear religious clothes in public schools. School is a location to
learn [pause] and not a location to be religious. However, I know many more
Muslim women now are protesting the 2004 ban by [pause] by wearing hijabs and
by having their children and infants wear hijabs in public places. It is a rather
clever, and silent way to show community togetherness. I think it also helps them
not adapt to French culture, but that is my opinion.
Discussion
Cultural Uniqueness via the Hijab
Many of the Muslim women said they see the hijab as a channel between their
articulated and unarticulated (Ting-Toomey, 1993) French identities and their
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Muslim, female, and North African identities. The overwhelming majority of the
Muslims interviewed for this project expressed a desire to be included as part of the
French culture. They also discussed how they want to retain some level of religious
and cultural identity freedom/difference from the French culture. A physical symbol
that embodies this desire for inclusion and differentiation is the Islamic hijab. This
symbol serves as a way to secure identity, reduce uncertainty and enhance self-
esteem. The hijab symbolically includes the Muslim women who wear it into Muslim
culture while at the same time it differentiates them from French-Christian culture.
Those Muslim women who choose not to wear the hijab are also differentiated from
traditional Muslim culture.
Locus of Self-Identification
Cultural variability influences an individual’s locus of self-identification. A key
cultural variable, as argued by Ting-Toomey, is the individualism-collectivism
continuum. Individualistic cultures typically encourage individual identity over
group identity, while collectivistic cultures normally emphasize a ‘‘we’’ identity over
an ‘‘I’’ identity (Hall, 1989; Gudykunst & Kim, 1997, 2003). France is in the middle of
this individualism and collectivism continuum (Hofstede, 1991; Jandt, 2000;
Croucher, 2005, 2008, 2009). The emphasis on ‘‘Frenchness,’’ the emphasis on all
citizens following and upholding a French ideal, and the staunch governmental
disregard for ethnic differences reveals a tendency toward collectivism. Moreover, the
Muslim faith lends itself toward a more collectivistic mindset (Roy, 2004) because it
encourages the importance of community and family over individual and personal
achievement (Aslan, 2005). This difference between the French ideal and the Muslim
community is the essence of racial conflicts between Muslim and Christians in France
(Croucher, 2006, 2008). The Muslim community generally emphasizes family and
community more than the Christian-French. This emphasis also places greater
importance on the concepts of obligation and honor to family, and history, which are
more a part of the Muslim moral than Christian moral (Lewis, 1998). In numerous
interviews, participants suggested their self-identification as linked to the identifi-
cation of their family and community. For many of the Muslims in fact, they
identified their family and community as the Muslim community. The collectivistic
nature of the Muslim-French community greatly impacts upon their self-
identification. This group/community is more apt to refer to itself by using ‘‘we’’
instead of ‘‘I.’’ The usage of ‘‘we’’ reveals the interconnectedness of this community
and the interdependent construals of self. Moreover, the more connected an
individual is to his group/community, the more likely that person is to feel secure in
his sense of self-identification (Ting-Toomey, 1993).
Sense of Identity Attack
Many Muslim women said their Muslim, female identities became stronger after their
religion and culture were placed under ‘‘attack’’ by French secularism and
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legal policies. Many of the participants said after Law 2004–228 was passed they
began to look at themselves in the mirror and realize that they were indeed different
from the rest of French culture. While this group also stated they were always
considered different and treated differently, since Law 2004–228 was passed they have
had a common reason to unite as a Muslim community. Uniting in protest to Law
2004–228 and arguing their Muslim selves cannot and should not be excluded from
French society brought forth a mainly subconscious and unarticulated self-identity.
Therefore, the hijab, whether or not it is worn by every French-Muslim (as a symbol
of Islam and protest), has become a visible and tangible way for the Muslim-French
community to exclude or to include themselves with mainstream French culture.
French Identity Crisis
France is in the midst of an identity crisis. France has a strong sense of ‘‘nation’’ that
goes all the way back to the French Revolution, when the modern-day French state
was established (Carlyle, 2002; Kedward, 2006). Since the fall of the French
monarchy, the idea of a French ‘‘nation’’ has been synonymous with French identity
(Hargreaves, 1995, 2000). However, that identity has been splintered in recent years
as France experiences a rapid influx in immigration from nations that are
predominantly non-Western and non-Christian. With this influx, French
Christians are afraid of losing their French culture and identity to encroaching
minority populations (ethnic and religious). Minority populations on the other
hand, especially the Muslim populations from North Africa and Turkey, want to
retain part of their Muslim selves, while also becoming and participating in French
culture (Croucher, 2005, 2008, 2009; Kastoryano, 2002; Keaton, 2006; Laurence &
Vaisse, 2006; Sifaoui, 2002; Venner, 2005).
Muslims in France are also in the midst of an identity crisis that not only pertains
to their religion and nation of birth, but also to their concept of sexuality, freedom of
expression and the family. Gaspard and Khosrokhavar (1995) conducted interviews
with young Muslim girls and found that their idea of what it means to be a Muslim
woman is changing. Girls described how they were torn between their Muslim sense
of self, and their ability to be a modern French girl. Women interviewed for this
project expressed similar sentiments. Siham, a 31-year-old French-born Muslim of
Algerian parents said:
I can be Muslim woman in France [pause] and I also [pause] I want to be French.
I think it possible [pause] but I want be modern French woman and also modern
Muslim woman too at same time. I want [pause] Muslim family and French family.
I have both things I want.
Conclusion
The hijab is a vehicle through which many French-Muslim women assert aspects of
their identity. Throughout interviews with French-Muslim women, these women
identified four broad functions/reasons for the hijab in France: to blend their French,
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Muslim and North-African identities; to help them feel comfortable or secure in their
bodies while out in public; to aid in feeling a closeness to the Prophet Muhammad
and to the Muslim community; and it provides a silent way to protest and identify
themselves as Muslims to others. The hijab is a way for French-Muslim women to
assert cultural uniqueness; it helps explain the collective nature of this particular
community ‘‘under attack,’’ and is a symbol of an identity crisis gripping France and
many of its people.
Ultimately, the misguided assertion by the French government that it must
quickly control the spread of Islamic ideas, in schools for example via Law 2004–228,
or else face further terrorist attacks or a diminishing of a French identity, illustrates
the conflict between Islam and Christianity and the inability of a government
institution to control identity formation and negotiation effectively. Both of these
issues are visually represented by the hijab. This increasingly important symbol (the
hijab) and its effect on the formation of French-Muslim identity cannot be
underestimated.
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