Burkinis have been a long-standing catalyst for dispute in France, calling societal attitudes towards Islam and feminism into question. Rule changes in Grenoble’s swimming pools suggest that opposition to the garment could be receding.
With summer opening times for municipal swimming pools soon to come, Grenoble’s town hall will vote on May 16 on potential changes to swimwear rules.
So far, so ordinary. It is not unusual for French swimming pools to issue strict swimwear regulations; in most, swimming caps and body-hugging, lycra outfits are a must. But in Grenoble, Mayor Éric Piolle wants to make the rules more permissive, especially for female swimmers.
“Our wish is to get rid of absurd restrictions,” he said. “This includes [allowing] bare breasts and swimming costumes that give extra coverage for sun protection or for beliefs. It is not about taking a position for or against the burkini specifically,” he said.
The burkini is a swimming costume that covers the entire body, including the head, leaving only the face, hands and feet visible. The planned change in Grenoble comes after protests in the city that began in 2018. In 2020 and 2021 a group of activists from the community grassroots association Alliance Citoyenne protested by wearing burkinis in Grenoble’s swimming pools.
One of these was Taous, a Muslim who lives in Grenoble and wears a hijab. “I love the feeling of being in the water, but those protests were the first time I’ve been able to put my feet in a swimming pool in France,” she told FRANCE 24. When her children go to the pool, Taous watches rather than swimming with them.
She is adamant the rules should change not just to allow burkinis, but to allow more choice for all women. “The rules are not specifically about burkinis,” she said. “They are also planning to allow women to show their breasts if they want to. It’s really a question of feminism and letting women wear what they want to. I believe in each woman’s right to choose.”
‘Submitting to Islam’ Nonetheless, it is the potential for burkinis, specifically, to be allowed in swimming pools that has sparked debate in France.
The burkini was invented by Australian Aheda Zanetti, who put her design on the market on 2004 “The idea was to make a swimming costume for Muslim women and girls, or for someone who wanted to dress modestly, “, she told FRANCE 24. “I could see there was a market. There was nothing satisfactory for women and girls who wanted to do water sports.”
She hoped her design would lead to greater integration for Muslim women and others who did not feel comfortable in smaller swim wear, but in France the garment has become a long-standing catalyst for dispute.
In Grenoble, local politicians were quick to counter the mayor’s plans to allow burkinis in swimming pools. In May, the president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Laurent Wauquiez, accused the mayor of “submitting to Islamism” and threatened to cut grants to the town if the measure was passed.
Dozens of local officials have also signed appeals to cancel the town hall vote on the measure, which they say has been “imposed by minority groups with the sole objective of permanently testing the sensitivity of our institutions to religious symbols”.
At the heart of the debate is France’s laïcité (or secularism) laws that strictly separate the church from the state and give French authorities the power to ban religious symbols in public places.
Such laws are common: in 2004 a law banned the wearing of religious emblems in schools and colleges. But in recent years, accusations have grown that France uses the law to disproportionately target its Muslim population.
In 2010, France became the first European country to ban the full-face veil in public places. Today, The French Football Federation bans female players from wearing hijabs (scarfs which cover the hair) even though the international football governing body FIFA does not.
