Reply #63: I have not read the VF article.

[chimpy the poopthrower]

Do you have a link for it?

But why do you assume that all French Muslim girls would be happy to remove their scarves? I keep certain parts of my body covered at all times when I'm out in public. I would probably cause quite a fuss if I went out in public without covering certain parts of myself. Does that mean I am oppressed? Does that mean I long to taste the freedom of walking around uncovered, even at work or school? It would be very upsetting for me if I moved to another country and people started saying I was oppressed and victimized just because I cover certain parts of myself. And it would be downright traumatic if I was forced to uncover those parts of myself I have always kept covered.

edit: P.S. You say that "The French government has indeed tried to address the issue, but without much success due to the insular nature of the communities." Isn't it a bit naive of France to assume that they could solve such complex and serious issues so easily? Of course they haven't eliminated these problems! All they can do is keep working on these issues just like every other country in the world must do. But I fail to see how a headscarf ban in schools is going to help at all. IMO, it's going to do more harm than good.