Recently, police officers in Nice, France, forced a woman to remove her burkini on the beach following a burkini ban in 30 towns across France. Authorities claimed that the bans were enacted for security concerns after recent terrorist attacks, but the forcing-a-woman-to-remove-her-clothing thing sparked outrage both online and on the streets. But what is a burkini, you ask? I'll let Marks and Spencer's burkini line show you:
Basically, it's a swimsuit designed to cover up almost the whole body, often worn by Muslim women but also sometimes by women who just want to avoid being sunburned. So how does this quintessentially-wetsuit piece of clothing invoke such controversy? Here are ten images (okay, nine images + 1 GIF) that just may answer that question:
1.
Drawing by @LaSauvageJaune on Twitter, captions translated from French to English by Twitter user @bitofkit
2.
Art by @AmyClancyUK of Twitter. The caption reads: (below each cartoon woman) yes, yes, no // (below the oui oui non) it's ridiculous!
3.
I can't find where this image came from/who the photographer is, but the message is pretty clear (and if anyone knows the original artist, please comment so I can give them proper credit!)
4.
The caption of this piece by Khalid Albaih, an artist in Qatari, is "In the name of freedom, while others in the name of religion."
5.
Cartoon by artist Chaunu essentially saying "Really, there are children here!"
6.
Also by artist Chaunu, the titles of each split image is "Before" and "Today" respectively.
7.
Cartoon by artist @Stephffart. Liberté means Liberty in French, and this is extra noteworthy because the French national motto is "Liberté, egalité, fraternité," or Liberty, equality, and fraternity in English.
8.
This image comparison was tweeted by @TanyaBurr.
9.
I'm not sure who originally compared these two photos, but I saw this tweeted by @_Leenaaaa. I added a black square over the face of the woman in the right photo to protect what's left of her privacy.
10.
Finally, a GIF by Washington Post editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes, captioned:
"Men: stop telling women what to wear."
