Vogue France, the French edition of the fashion magazine, has landed itself in a controversy after it praised actress Julia Fox for donning a headscarf (Image: Instagram)
According to netizens, praising a white woman for donning a headscarf deemed ‘hypocritical’ while Muslim women in the country were oppressed from doing so
Vogue France, the French edition of the fashion magazine, has landed itself in a controversy after it praised actress Julia Fox for donning a headscarf. Fox recently was seen at the Paris Men’s Fashion Week in a leather Balenciaga trench coat, a pair of sunglasses and a headscarf to top it all. Sharing a picture of Fox in this attire on their social media handle, Vogue France at first captioned it, “Yes to the headscarf! Swipe left for your recap of Julia Fox and Kanye West style journey at the haute couture shows in Paris this week. “The caption was later edited to remove any reference to the headscarf but the damage had already been done.
Vogue’s thumbs up to the headscarf irked a lot of netizens as they felt it was insensitive to the plight of Muslim women in a country that is accused of perpetuating a culture of Islamophobia. According to netizens, praising a white woman for donning a headscarf deemed ‘hypocritical’ while Muslim women in the country were oppressed from doing so.
Since 1989, when three students in Creil were suspended from school for refusing to remove their headscarves, Muslim women’s freedom to wear the hijab has been a source of conflict in France, according to a report in The Independent. At least 100 girls have been penalized or expelled from school since then because they wore a headscarf in class. The exclusions were overturned by the French courts in roughly half of these cases. In 2011, the country made facial coverings such as the niqab and the burqa illegal. According to the Independent, the French Senate decided earlier this month to prohibit the wearing of “religious insignia” in sporting tournaments, which included the hijab.
Irked netizens on social media lashed out at Vogue France in the comments section. One user asked the magazine to stand up against the government banning hijab instead of featuring a white woman wearing a headscarf. Another user simply called out the magazine for its ‘double standards’ and asked what it was doing to promote the rights of Muslim women.
“How can you post about the headscarf on a white woman, but have it banned in your country for Muslim women?” another comment read. Another pointed out that its objectionable when Muslim women wear it but become ‘fashionable’ when models and celebrities wear it.
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