#onyx asks

so fun fact I kinda haven't seen it yet 😔

They're right behind aren't they..

Hi ! ^^ First of all, thanks for your question ! Little intro first :

If I'm not wrong, hijabs aren't banned in public spaces (as in, streets, or banks, or restaurants, sports stadiums etc) in France : as long as nothing covers the face, it's authorized. It's a security measure - in case anything happens, people need to be identified, and this applies to everyone (for example, banks would ask that people remove opaque colored glasses, face-hiding scarves, and caps or hats when entering for that exact same reason - the only exception were masks during COVID).

The only things that are banned in public spaces in terms of religious clothing are :

-the full niqab (only the eyes are visible - originally from the salafism branch practices of Islam ? Not sure) => security reasons cited above -the burqa (not even the eyes are visible, they're behind a grid - if I'm not wrong it was imposed by the talibans in the 1990s, to boot) => security reasons cited above -students wearing religious/belief system symbols in school, from elementary to highschool (crosses, niqab/hijab/burqa, qippa, any atheist symbol, etc) => laicity reasons. Yes, even atheists have to conform (it's not a religion but it is a belief system). It's authorized at University because students are 18 or above and can make the choice for themselves. 18 is the legal age of majority in France : people are considered adults at 18 (where, for example, it's 21 in the USA).

Now to answer your question : my brother's boyfriend's mom wasn't talking about that, she was literally talking about hoodies. The sweater. She apparently read somewhere (and maybe I'm a cynic but I'm betting that this somewhere starts with FOX and ends with NEWS) that hoodies are banned for whatever reason in both Belgium and France. Even her son was bewildered that she genuinely believed that.

And if she DID confuse hijabs for hoodies... well, kinda rounds back to the point the post was making.