An Algerian woman who had been denied French citizenship for refusing to shake a man’s hand at her naturalization ceremony lost her appeal to France’s highest administrative court, the Council of State, last week. As with the infamous burkini ban of 2016, France is setting a dangerous precedent for its women and women throughout Europe.
For the purposes of this article, I’m choosing to ignore the fact that freedom of religious expression is actually enshrined in the French constitution. While the court deemed this decision not to be in violation of that freedom – which is absolutely absurd – violation of religious expression is not even the most problematic aspect of this story.
The woman, who is unidentified but known to be married to a French citizen since 2010, was denied citizenship because she refused to shake the hand of a man at the naturalization ceremony – the official reason was that her personal choice about what to do with her body “reveal[ed] a lack of assimilation.”
Let’s break this down.
“Assimilation,” or more appropriately in this context, “cultural assimilation,” means the adoption of another’s culture, norms, and values. Assuming that this is what France’s Council of State meant by “assimilation,” they’re ruling that a woman in France must shake an important man’s hand because that is what’s done in their society. This effectively takes all agency away from a woman who may not feel comfortable touching a stranger, particularly a male stranger.
The problem isn’t merely a matter of intolerance to those with more traditional values, it’s a matter of men in high positions feeling entitled to a woman’s body, even a part of the body as seemingly insignificant as the hand. The woman in question was likely Muslim (the report didn’t definitively say) but her choice speaks to Jewish women and any other women who prefer not to touch men they don’t know. France prides itself on being a progressive and inclusive society, but it seems obvious to me that these progressive and inclusive values are only tolerated so long as they fit into the white, patriarchal idea of what “progressive” means.
The fact that the court said its decision wasn’t in violation of the woman’s religious freedom actually makes matters worse. These issues are hard to navigate for immigrant groups with traditional values because it’s really unclear which components of their traditions and values are acceptable to adhere to and which could potentially deny them citizenship or rights. It all seems arbitrary. If they had just come right out and said that she was denied citizenship because of her belief systems, practices, or lifestyle, at least she and others like her would have clear evidence that the system is against them.
What this episode clearly reveals is that it is deeply ingrained in French society that a woman has an obligation to shake the hand of a strange man, whether she likes it or not. Refusing citizenship to a woman because she wouldn’t shake the hand is coercion and abuse of power – at a pretty high governmental level at that – and it’s exactly why so many young men grow up believing that they have some kind of right to women’s bodies.
Women everywhere – not just Jewish or Muslim women – but women everywhere who want the right to decide for themselves how and when they can be touched should be alarmed to the core about what this says about our place in 21st century Europe.
