Anonymous OP 20h

France did something similar in Algeria. Through all the years of French rule, Muslim Algerians were systematically oppressed and marginalized. France claimed they were civilizing Algeria, but that Algerians were also unable to be civilized. The use of the veil was used as evidence for Algeria’s misogynistic backwardness. Of course, women weren’t allowed to vote in France until 1945. And France oppressed Algerian women plenty, simply because they were Algerian.

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Anonymous OP 19h

But in the 1940s and 1950s this shifted. Algerians were fed up with French rule and oppression. They revolted. France desperately scrambled to undermine the movement of Algerians towards independence. France gave Muslim Algerians token citizenship in 1947. France had given Algeria’s Jewish population French citizenship in 1870, and this successfully won over Algerian Jews, who came to view themselves as French.

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Anonymous OP 19h

But it wasn’t enough. France still refused to give Muslim Algerians full voting rights, and they wanted independence. In the 1950s, France attempted to pivot and use feminist rhetoric to undermine the movement for Algerian independence. That’s where this poster comes from. Unveil yourselves! The French government, which had oppressed Algerian women for being Algerian, now tried to portray itself as their savior. Become French! Assimilate! Then you will have rights.

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Anonymous OP 19h

France created elaborate unveiling ceremonies. Tried to make feminism a cornerstone of opposition to Algerian independence. It didn’t work. Algeria won its independence. And indeed, women’s rights did backslide, as conservative politics became the norm. But France’s feminism was skin-deep. It did not truly care for Algerian women. It oppressed them for being Algerian. Israel does not ask whether a Palestinian is gay before bombing them.

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