Search

The article focuses on the story of Princess Hijab, the persona of an anonymous street artist working in Paris, France, and her comments about the presence of the niqab in the French public sector. Princess Hijab considers her work within the context of French parliamentary debates on the prohibition of covering the face in public. The author discusses two styles of showing face-veils in public that include Princess Hijab's street art and the video clip "NiqaB##ch Shakes Paris."

The author addresses the announcement by French President Nicholas Sarkozy in the summer of 2009 about the ban of burqa in France. The author points out that France is not the first European country where the face-veil has become a topic of parliamentary debate, citing the experience of the Netherlands in December 2005. However, the author argues that the shift from religious symbol to sign of women's subjugation is hypocritical.