Her name is Nuha. She is 22 years old. She is of Algerian descent. As a student at HEC Montreal, she found herself unwillingly in the middle of another controversy over wearing the veil when her photo appeared on her university’s website.
Posted on August 10th
I wanted to speak to this student after seeing former President of the Parti Québécois Jean-François Lisée vehemently denounced HEC Montréal’s publication of his photo on Twitter. According to him, by broadcasting the photo of a veiled woman, the university chose “a misogynist religious sign (meaning modesty and subjugation of women) to recruit female students from Algeria”.
PHOTO FROM HEC MONTRÉAL WEBSITE
Nouha, student, appears on the home page of the HEC Montréal website.
Gone are the days when the same Jean-François Lisée, worried about a populist leadership of the religious shelter debate, wrote: “The veil? Honestly, I’ve gotten used to it, and what you put your mind to shouldn’t arouse national ire. The mere fact that a photo of a veiled student on university campuses was published now strikes him as heresy. He sees this as a normalization of the headscarf, which is unacceptable on the part of a secular and equality-friendly public institution, as well as a lack of solidarity towards young Algerian women who do not want to wear the veil.
What is the girl in the photo thinking? She was very reluctant to grant me an interview, knowing that her nuanced remarks risked drawing criticism from all quarters. Unnecessary stress when she wants to concentrate on her studies.
“I don’t really want to say what people will like. When I speak, I say what I want to say. This may please neither those who criticize me nor those who defend me. »
What Nouha, a leading woman who doesn’t exactly have the profile of a submissive woman, says is a bit like what journalist Kenza Bennis said at the end of her brave research on hijab Les Monologues du voile (Robert Laffont, 2017): ” the” veiled woman does not exist. There are “some” veiled women who experience other realities2.
“Of course there are women who are forced to wear the veil, otherwise they risk their lives. I’m against that,” the student, who has always described herself as a feminist, says to me straight away.
“But there are also women who, like me, have chosen to wear the veil,” she adds. It is a personal choice of religious belief that no one has forced upon her and which she does not impose on anyone.
There are several women in my family who don’t wear it. My grandma never wore it. My aunt doesn’t wear it. I decided to wear it…
Nouha, student at HEC Montreal
A sign of submission? ” Nope. I never find it a symbol that diminishes the value of women. I personally consider myself a super strong woman. In a few years I will be the manager of a whole team. I can’t see myself as a weak person! »
I pointed out to Nouha that it is interesting precisely because she is translating the complexity of a question that is all too often oversimplified and exploited, that she speaks rather than letting paternalistic commentators speak to her place.
The student explains to me that she agreed to have her photo published on the HEC Montréal website, mainly to tell girls who wear the veil that they don’t have to fear discrimination there.
That was something she feared herself before coming to the country in November 2020. In June 2021, the ramming attack on trucks in London, Ontario, in which four members of the same Muslim family were mowed down, did nothing to calm her.
“I was a bit afraid of being discriminated against in all of this. »
In the end, there was more fear than harm. While studying at HEC Montreal, she discovered a very inclusive and very respectful Montreal. “At no time have I experienced discrimination or disrespect. »
Therefore, to reassure students who may have the same concerns, she has accepted (without any compensation) for her photo to be published on her university’s website.
The publication in no way encourages Algerian girls to wear headscarves. It only singles out a minority. They are only told that there is a place for them.
Nouha, student at HEC Montreal
This was also HEC Montréal’s aim: simply to reflect the diversity of its student body, its spokesperson confirms, specifying that the photo on the homepage of its website, which changes every two weeks, is not an advertisement.
Still, Nouha understands and respects those who see things differently. “We must not forget that we are in a country that is very committed to secularism. I understand that the school really needs to remain neutral. But I think it’s also important to bring people from minorities forward. Because these minorities are looking for a place where they feel comfortable. Someone in Algiers doesn’t know how things are in Montreal…”
Seeing someone who looks like them, regardless of race or religion, allows you to project yourself into a society that can be both secular and inclusive.
To paraphrase Jean-François Lisée in 2007, frankly there is nothing to arouse national anger.
1. The quote is from the Essay Nous by Jean-François Lisée (Boréal, 2007).