Life's a Beach

Remember when “Life’s a Beach” meant things were just hunky dory? Nothing but good times ahead.

These days, life on the beach is fraught with a little more peril. Take France, for example, a country known for its idyllic beaches.

Nowadays, visiting a French beach might just get you stabbed with a harpoon.  Which is apparently just one of the outcomes after a major brawl broke out on the Island of Corsica earlier this week.

Although details “are murky” according to the Los Angeles Times, essentially the issue began when a group of people started snapping pictures of Muslim women of North African descent who were swimming in their burkinis—bathing suits that cover essentially the entire body, except for the eyes, hands and feet.

Here’s where things get a little unclear, but essentially a few men were not happy with the taking of the photographs and a brawl ensued only to get larger when more than three dozen local residents joined the fracas. Stones and bottles were thrown, cars were burned, and according to a witnesses, two men were stabled with harpoons.

That’s right; a harpoon.

Which leads me to wonder if humanity has lost all reason.

More than 100 police had to be brought in to control the brawl, and the next day several hundred protestors marched in the Lupino district — where many people of North African descent make their home — shouting “This is our home!”

I know; we’re living in scary times.

But to unleash all that hate and rage and fear on these women and their families enjoying a day at the beach is no way to bring the world back to normalcy.

I’m all in favour of being allowed to wear whatever you want. But for me that’s a two-way street. If your religion or culture requires you to wear a burka, dark skirts below the knees with long-sleeved shirts or just plain cotton clothes, that’s between you and your deity.

I understand that for many Westerners, a burka is symbolic of oppression. But to universally assume women are being “forced” to wear this outfit as a form of subjugation is entirely incorrect. And just as women of the Orthodox Jewish faith and Amish faith choose to wear a form of dress that is native to their own culture, shouldn’t women of Muslim faith be allowed to garb themselves as they like?

To assume that women splashing around in the ocean are unable to speak up against their own oppression, is frankly insulting.

Yes, there’s plenty of oppression in a number of countries that have a largely Muslim population. Of course, there’s also plenty of oppression in countries that are ruled by Christianity as well. And we should do what we can to see that oppressive regimes receive their due. But battling it out in a beach getaway is not the answer.

The result of the brawl is that Sisco has become the third town in France to outlaw burkinis at the beach.

“The mayor talks about protecting public order, which means he thinks the presence of a Muslim woman on a beach will cause trouble,” said Feiza Ben Mohammed, spokesperson for the Southern Federation of Muslims, according to the Los Angeles Times article. “Yet again it’s ordinary Muslims who pay for the actions of the terrorists even though they have nothing to do with it. It’s exactly what Daesh [Islamic State] wants.”

I would argue that when you outlaw clothing in order to protect the peace, it is not only Muslim women pay, but there is also a cost to all people who value peace and reason.

France has every right to be jittery about the threat of terrorism. But outlawing an article of clothing specifically designed for leisure will do nothing to halt the next act of terrorism. What it does do is tell people who support violence and rage that mindlessly acting in anger is okay when they are incited into their rage by a public symbol.

This is a dark and dangerous road, especially at a time when riots are becoming a standard form of protest. There is a lot in the world that can use fixing. But a rage-fueled demonstration that causes damage and injury in a public setting is not the answer and it cannot be condoned.

And truth be told, if it’s okay to be incited into rage by a mere symbol, I have to think that a harpoon on a beach is going to be one of my triggers.

I’m the first to admit, we do not have all the answers. We barely even know the questions. But rage and violence cannot be the first steps to healing the parts of our world that are broken. So let’s find ways to work together and let’s stop excusing group acts of violence, no matter why they happen.

And can’t we just agree to let a day at the beach be a time for sun, fun and family?

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