Take it off! Put it on!

*** Part One : Take it off ! ***

On Monday, March 14, 2022, the mandate to wear face coverings inside public places (except for public transportation and health facilities) will come to an end in France. In light of this I’d like to share some thoughts about the putting on and taking off of face coverings which has been going on for, not two years, but for over a decade, in France.

In 2010, then president Nicolas Sarkozy, had a law passed fining any woman who wears a face-cover. This practice is the habit of a miniscule part of the Muslim minority in France. Much pomp was given to this manoeuvre creating hours of debate, filling the airwaves. Meanwhile more practical matters, like the national health care system, sécurité sociale, was quietly under attack. And yet, that barely gets a crumb of air-time.

We heard little about the hundreds of medications no longer to be covered for diseases like cancer, but more than enough about how women who wear face masks are supposedly anti-French and dangerous. We heard nothing about how medical errors were skyrocketing (and continue to today) because physicians are not provided decent working conditions and forever pushed to go faster, faster, FASTER !. No, instead, we were warned about the supposedly oppressive husbands of these women who wear face masks. According to the media, these women who are all covered up would rather be wearing tight jeans. Or perhaps they’d like to be super French and walk around like Marianne with one and a half breasts hanging out ! (Marianne is the personification of the French state. Somewhat like what Lady Liberty is to the U.S.A.)

Women, hidden behind fabric filled the TV screens, but on the street, I did not notice any for a very long time after this law was passed. I saw just as many as I had before the law was passed. It took a year of me keeping an eye peeled to finally see a woman – sort of – wearing a face covering. As I rode on a public bus, a woman got on wearing a long enrobing Muslim dress and a long head covering. To this she added a surgical face mask.

My heart was filled with joy ! You go girl, I thought. Now that’s a clever rebel !

While the law restricted this woman from dressing the way she wished, she had found a way around it. Who could tell her to take off a surgical mask ?! If you did that then you’d have to make the Asians do it too. Remember, this is pre-COVID19, when wearing a mask was not commonly sighted. In Toulouse, I only ever saw some Asians doing so, pre-COVID19.

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Personally, I believe in The Golden Rule that my Catholic grandmother reiterated so frequently : Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Hence, as I do not want to be told how to dress, I would never tell another how they should dress either.

But not everyone feels like me. And I am not just talking about the French president.

I was once doing my shopping at the very popular Pharmacie Lafayette. This successful chain, known for its unbeatable prices, started out with one store on Lafayette Street in downtown Toulouse. The lines were outrageous with a waitime of 30 minutes not uncommon. Eventually, they branched out to a few more locations, with their largest store having up to 15 cashiers collecting customers money at a time. Everybody goes there. I mean EVERYBODY – even women who wear face covers !

A woman defiantly sporting a face cover and I both decided to go shopping there at the same time by chance one day. As I eyed the vitamin aisle a heated discussion caught my attention. I could hear someone speaking French in a west African accent. He obviously had some authority in the store and was reprimanding another man. I looked to my right and saw one of the store’s security guards arguing with the husband of the face-covered woman I mentioned. Although, in a private business and not a government facility, she was being kicked out of the store for wearing a Muslim face cover.

I approached them and trying to be as diplomatic as possible, I said, « As a customer, I do not feel offended by her clothes. Just let her do her shopping. » The man I adressed with dark brown skin, did not appreciate my sentiment. He claimed that his boss didn’t want such women giving thier business to the store. (That’s how you recognize a super racist – when they won’t even accept your money!)

I walked away, powerless to obtain justice. It would not be the first nor the last time I would witness such discrimination.

The security guard would not see reason and so the couple stormed towards the escalator to go up to the floor above, which was street level to the exit.

When it was time for me to go upstairs and hand over my money to the cashier, I saw the same security guard all in a huff. He was complaing about « those people » to a blank-faced customer. When he saw me, he recognized me right away. Trying to win me over to seeing things his way, he said, « See what he [the husband of the face-covered woman] did ! » pointing towards a knee-high display case that had been visibly attacked – probably by a foot.

Yes, I could sympathize. But not with the Uncle Tom security guard, rather with the husband. « Yes, I said, he must be really tired of getting thrown out of stores all the time. This was obviously just the drop that made the vase flow over [the straw that broke the camel’s back].»

That was not what he had expected to hear me say. « Don’t you see what they do ! » meaning : See how those Muslims are violent. That is why we should shun them. 

I thought, hmm, this guy must take me for a White lady who’s atheist like most of the White ladies in this store. Little did he know that despite my appearance, I knew a lot about Arabs and Muslims and I know that they are just like anybody else.

This face cover masquerade set up by the government just aims to provoke tension in the society and authorize legal racism. That too, I know, and a lot of White ladies do too.

The security guard Uncle Tom was obviously a product of the media which has us believe that it’s okay to discriminate against Muslims because they are inherently violent and do things like lash out on a display cases when their wives are prevented from doing something as basic as buying health and beauty supplies.

«This topic is a waste of time, » I said to Tom. « I don’t care about how people dress. I don’t want people to tell me how to dress and I expect the same in return. »

« I’d rather talk about things that really matter, » I continued, «  like what’s happening to the national health insurance. Don’t you wonder why the government spends their time talking about the way people dress rather than telling us why they are chipping away at truly important things like our access to health care ?! »

He gave up on winning me over and turned to seek comradery elsewhere. And, yes, he will find it ! My modest guess is that at least half of the people in that store, employees and customers, felt the same as he.

As I walked out, I past by another security agent who was Arab and most likely Muslim. Maybe he even had a sister who wore face covers, (although it’s more likely that he has one who wears booty-chokers). Looking at him, I thought, How does he do it ? How can he stand working here ?

* * * Part Two: Put it on ! ***

Then COVID19 hit.

At first we didn’t really know what the disease was. We didn’t know if it was as nasty as Ebola or worse. It was March 2020, and France was in its first lockdown. The streets were empty. The few people who were outside were going to the pharmacy or getting groceries because everything else was closed, then rushing home. Police patrolled to make sure that we had our forms filled in with the time we exited our homes. We could not be out for more than an hour and only for essential reasons like getting groceries or going on a doctor’s visit. People were panicked, even ratting out neighbors they saw rebelliously having apéritifs (drinks) with a friend in an empty parking lot when they shouldn’t be anywhere near each other legally.

And people started wearing face masks of their own choice.

During this time, President Macron and the Prime Minister, Edouard Philippe took turns giving weekly or bi-weekly speeches. Never one to go out of my way for any TV or radio program, I made sure to listen to each one of these because they dictated how I would be living for the next week. We were firmly told not to wear masks. That they were inutile (useless). But some people wore them anyway. A few even layered on transparent face shields.

On May 10, 2020, the first lockdown ended and to our surprise it was now mandatory to put on face masks in public places or else risk a fine of 135€. Little by little faces started to disappear under surgical masks. Every atheist, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish and Muslim face vanished from sight.

It was now the president of France who was forcing women to cover their faces. And not only the women, but the men, too !

I’ll never forget my amusement the first time I did a double as I arrived at my children’s school along with all of the other parents, including some headscarved Muslim mothers. Well, all of the sudden, with the new mandate, these Muslim mothers, who habitually didn’t cover their face, suddenly ressembled hard-core burqa wearers.

It’s a good thing I was wearing a mask myself because I did a lot of grinning and snickering underneath it. It was so entertaining to see that these women were forced to wear face covers not by their husbands, but by the president of the French Republic !

Mecca O’Canainn * March 11, 2022