New photos of American actress Anne Hathaway wearing a full-body wetsuit in the coastal town of Saint-Tropez on the French Riviera have sparked comment and debate over the double standards which Muslim women have to endure when they wear similar clothing in France .
The Oscar -winning actress, who announced her third pregnancy earlier this month, has been sporting many looks on her holiday with her husband.
However, it was her long-sleeved, full-length tie-dye patterned wet suit that caught the attention of many, who compared it to modest swimwear that many Muslim women choose to wear.
Many commentators took to social media to decry "double standards", with Hathaway’s choice of dress at the beach accepted and praised while Muslim women who wear the hijab and full-coverage swimwear are often turned away from public pools and beaches.
“…She deserves to wear whatever makes her feel comfortable and protected. But as a Muslim woman, I’ve been told I can’t even join my own daughter in the pool because I wear a hijab and choose modest swimwear,” writer and publisher Boutina Azzabi wrote in a post on Instagram.
She pointed out that often, Muslim women are forced to travel to another country in order to wear modest swimsuits freely, noting that many women in France don’t have that option.
“So here we are: Applauding a celebrity for covering her body in France, while Muslim women are still questioned, excluded, or restricted for doing the very same thing…Same fabric. Different headlines. One woman is called inspiring. The other is called oppressed,” she added.
Some said that while Hathaway may have worn the wetsuit for protection from the sun, the reason behind the choice was irrelevant, and that Muslim women should not be penalised or excluded for making similar clothing choices.
Sarah Fraincart, a prominent French-Moroccan rower and politician, also weighed in on the subject.
“No one would think to kick Anne Hathaway off the beach for this swimsuit cover-up. But a Muslim woman in the same outfit is a national controversy. For one, it's a responsible, stylish choice. For the other, it's oppression,” she wrote in an Instagram post.
Fraincart also said Laurent Wauquiez , a French member of parliament, was “wretched” after he praised effectively banning the burkini (modest swimwear) in municipal swimming pools in Grenoble.
“I congratulate myself on this new victory. All subsidies to the city of Grenoble have been cut, which had authorised the wearing of the burkini in its municipal swimming pools. Once again, on this issue, justice has ruled in our favour! We we’re right to not back down,” the MP wrote on X on Thursday.
France banned the hijab from public schools in March 2004, while prayers are prohibited in French educational spaces. Many Muslim women who wear the hijab in France also face challenges when it comes to finding employment.
Last year, Amnesty International said France’s hijab ban in all sports would violate human rights and unfairly target Muslim women.
“Laïcité”, or “secularism”, which is theoretically embedded in the French constitution to protect everyone’s religious freedom, has often been used as a pretext to block Muslim women’s access to public spaces in France,” the rights group said in a report.
“Over several years, the French authorities have enacted laws and policies to regulate Muslim women’s and girls’ clothing in discriminatory ways. Sport federations have followed suit, imposing hijab bans in several sports,” the Amnesty report added.