“Prime Minister Manuel Valls told BFM television that burkinis represent ‘the enslavement of women,’ but said enforcement of the bans must be handled respectfully.” The much-discussed Burkini bans in France are now facing legal challenges. The Burkini is troubling. The ban is troubling.

+ “The government’s defense of the burkini ban rests on worries about religious tension and public order after recent terrorist attacks, coupled with two underlying principles. The first is laïcité, a strict form of secularism enshrined by law in 1905 after a struggle against authoritarian Catholicism …The other principle is women’s equality.” The Economist explains why the French keep trying to ban Islamic body wear.

+ “The political and cultural debates over Muslim immigrants long predated the global struggle against Islamic terrorism and the 9/11 attacks. Concerns over wearing of the hijab in school were a political issue in France as far back as the 1980s.” Bloomberg: The Serious Purpose Behind France’s Silly Burkini Ban.

+ Quartz: The woman behind the burkini says 40% of sales are to non-Muslims.