Gender Equality as an Essential French Value: The Case of Mme M

This article examines the case of Mme M, whose application for French nationality was rejected on the basis of her choice to wear a niqab and long cloak. She was informed that the rejection of her claim was based on her conduct being indicative of a radical religious practice, incompatible with essential French values including equality of the sexes. The author argues that liberal secular feminism and official French state ideology converge to promote anti-Muslim political agendas, while, at the same time, helping to solidify an illusion that Western French women have achieved equality.

Anastasia Vakulenko, Gender Equality as an Essential French Value: The Case of Mme M (2009) 9:1 Oxford Human Rights Law Review 143.